I Read: Nothing General About It

Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital by Maurice Benard with Susan Black

I watch General Hospital. I'm not ashamed of that. I've been watching, at least intermittently, since I was at my babysitter's when I was four or five years old. She watched Soaps all afternoon. I'm not sure why, but General Hospital stuck with me. One of my first memories is watching Luke and Laura's wedding. 

My mom was a watcher of Another World, but somehow as a small child, I convinced her we needed to also watch General Hospital in the summer when she was home. It worked out well: Another World at 2:00, General Hospital at 3:00.  The whole afternoon was accounted for. 

All this is to say that I remember when Maurice Benard joined the cast of General Hospital. I remember the crazy mob storylines and the way they incorporated Sonny's mental health into the stories. I read about how these stories were influenced by Benard's own mental health struggles. So when he put out a book, I was going to read it.

Benard's story is definitely full of struggle, but also of hope. He's making it through, and he's being successful as an actor at the same time. He's using that success to help others with mental health issues fight the stigma and come to terms with their struggles. It's extremely admirable. And especially coming from a guy who's played a mostly bad guy for a lot of years. 

I was a bit disappointed with the written style of the book. It feels very detached.  If I didn't know that I was reading the words of someone I watched on television every day writing about himself, it would have felt almost like it was written by someone who didn't know the subject. There are acknowledgements of the "bad" actions, regret and sometimes a little bit of guilt, but mostly it was very much just a re-telling of events. That could be a function of the struggle, a way of coping. I don't know because I don't know Benard personally. I only know Sonny. 

There were a couple of really intriguing stories in the book and there were tidbits that could have been really interesting stories if they'd expanded on them a little bit. Overall, it was interesting to read the struggle he's gone through in his career and his life dealing with his bipolar disorder. There are things that everyone can take into their own lives whether they have similar struggles or not. 

Three stars, because the writing was really a distraction but the overall content was pretty great.

#30-2020