Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital

by Maurice Benard

Overview

Instant New York Times bestseller!

The Emmy Award-winning star of General Hospital chronicles his astonishing and emotional life journey in this powerful memoir—an inspiring story of success, show business, and family, and his struggle with mental illness.

"This shocking true story is General Hospital on anabolic steroids." — Mehmet Oz, M.D., Emmy Award-winning host of The Dr. Oz Show

Maurice Benard has been blessed with family, fame, and a successful career. For twenty-five years, he has played one of the most well-known characters on daytime television: General Hospital’s Michael “Sonny” Corinthos, Jr. In his life outside the screen, he is a loving husband and the father of four. But his path has not been without hardship. When he was only twenty, Maurice was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In Nothing General About It, Maurice looks back to his youth in a small town and his tenuous relationship with his father. He describes how his bipolar disorder began to surface in childhood, how he struggled to understand the jolting mood swings he experienced, and how a doctor finally saved his life. For years Maurice was relentless in his goal to be a successful actor. But even after he “made it,” he still grappled with terrifying lows, breakdowns, and setbacks, all while trying desperately to maintain his relationship with his wife, who endured his violent, unpredictable episodes. Maurice holds nothing back as he bravely talks about what it was like to be medicated and institutionalized, and of how he learned to manage his manic episodes while on the set of GH.

Nothing General About It is also an incredible love story about an enduring marriage that demonstrates what those vows—for better, for worse, in sickness and in health—truly mean. Maurice also pays tribute to the community that has been there for him through thick and thin, and ruminates on the importance of both inherited and created family.

A shocking, riveting, and utterly candid memoir of love, adversity, and ultimately hope, Nothing General About It offers insights and advice for everyone trying to cope with mental illness, and is a motivational story that offers lessons in perseverance—of the importance of believing in and fighting for yourself through the darkest times.

Nothing General About It includes a 16-page insert featuring approximately 50 photographs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062973399
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	54,672
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Maurice Benard, the longtime star of ABC soap opera General Hospital, is a two-time Emmy Award–winning film and television actor, a member of the prestigious Actors Studio, and an advocate for mental health awareness. He lives in California with his wife, Paula, with whom he proudly raised three daughters and a son—who is already following in his father’s footsteps as an actor.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Cruisin' 5

Chapter 2 Livin' on a Prayer 29

Chapter 3 Highway to Hell 37

Chapter 4 Doctor My Eyes 51

Chapter 5 Free Fallin' 56

Chapter 6 God Part II 69

Chapter 7 Welcome to the Jungle 87

Chapter 8 Man in the Mirror 99

Chapter 9 Sweet Child o' Mine 110

Chapter 10 Isn't She Lovely 123

Chapter 11 Beautiful Boy 142

Chapter 12 Tears in Heaven 168

Chapter 13 Celluloid Heroes 182

Chapter 14 God Only Knows 194

Chapter 15 The Godfather Waltz 207

Chapter 16 The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades 223

Chapter 17 Accentuate the Positive 232

Acknowledgments 237

About the Authors 243

Where to Go for Help 245

Editorial Reviews

"Maurice and Susan's Nothing General About It is gut-wrenching. It's an honest look at one man’s private pain and an unconventional and inspiring love story."

Al Ruddy

"An intriguing read for soap fans and an uplifting read for anyone struggling with mental illness."

Booklist

"A beautifully written tour de force, this book offers genuine hope to those affected by mental illness."

Dyane Harwood

"This shocking true story is General Hospital on anabolic steroids."

Mehmet Oz

"A man I’m proud to call my friend is owed a debt of gratitude for taking us inside the roller-coaster ride that has been his life, shining a light on mental illness and how he rose to heights from that abyss. More importantly, he reminds us of how no struggle is too great to overcome—if you value life, love and all the challenges that come with them. This book is a must-read. Impossible to want to put down."

Stephen A. Smith

"In this gripping and extremely informative memoir, Maurice Benard exposes his candid fight with bipolar disorder and years of suffering while achieving phenomenal, award-winning success as an actor. His book will hit home with so many readers as Benard offers tremendous hope."

Victoria Gotti

"An intriguing read for soap fans and an uplifting read for anyone struggling with mental illness." — Booklist

"Benard’s honest work is realistic yet inspiring. Soap opera fans will relish the behind-the-scenes insight, but overall this will resonate with anyone attempting to overcome life’s hurdles." — Library Journal

"A man I’m proud to call my friend is owed a debt of gratitude for taking us inside the roller-coaster ride that has been his life, shining a light on mental illness and how he rose to heights from that abyss. More importantly, he reminds us of how no struggle is too great to overcome—if you value life, love and all the challenges that come with them. This book is a must-read. Impossible to want to put down." — Stephen A. Smith, ESPN

"This is a heartfelt, inspiring, and brutally honest look in the mirror chronicling his experience with mental illness, finally finding the right diagnosis, and learning how to live with it." — Dr. Drew Pinsky

"In this gripping and extremely informative memoir, Maurice Benard exposes his candid fight with bipolar disorder and years of suffering while achieving phenomenal, award-winning success as an actor. His book will hit home with so many readers as Benard offers tremendous hope." — Victoria Gotti, New York Times bestselling author 

"This shocking true story is General Hospital on anabolic steroids." — Mehmet Oz, M.D., Emmy Award–winning host of The Dr. OZ Show

"Maurice and Susan's Nothing General About It is gut-wrenching. It's an honest look at one man’s private pain and an unconventional and inspiring love story."
— Al Ruddy, two-time Academy Award–winning producer of The Godfather

"I’m so proud of Maurice for having the courage to put his story forward—now it’s up to all of us to learn from it and use it to expand awareness around mental health." — Kurt Bardella, USA Today & NBC News THINK contributor

"A beautifully written tour de force, this book offers genuine hope to those affected by mental illness." — Dyane Harwood,  author of Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder 

From the Publisher

"This is a heartfelt, inspiring, and brutally honest look in the mirror chronicling his experience with mental illness, finally finding the right diagnosis, and learning how to live with it."

Dr. Drew Pinsky

"I’m so proud of Maurice for having the courage to put his story forward—now it’s up to all of us to learn from it and use it to expand awareness around mental health."

Kurt Bardella

"An intriguing read for soap fans and an uplifting read for anyone struggling with mental illness."

Booklist

03/01/2020

At 22, Benard was in a psychiatric ward coping with delusions, hallucinations, and uncontrolled aggression, but just two years later, he made his soap opera debut on All My Children. In this debut memoir, coauthored by screenwriter Black, the actor revisits his troubled childhood, where youthful indiscretions and physical abuse from his father escalated as his mental illness went untreated, leading to his institutionalization. As the subtitle suggests, being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and receiving treatment, coupled with support from friends and family, transformed his life. Since then he's portrayed Desi Arnaz and John Gotti, though he's best known as General Hospital's Sonny Corinthos, a role he's played for more than 25 years. Despite his on-screen success, Benard exhibits more pride in his work as a spokesperson for bipolar awareness. His depiction of the disorder is unflinching—an incident where he threatened to kill his then-pregnant wife, Paula, is especially harrowing. Benard's struggles with mental illness have been incorporated into the show, and he reveals how some of his favorite story lines have also been the most triggering. VERDICT Benard's honest work is realistic yet inspiring. Soap opera fans will relish the behind-the-scenes insight, but overall this will resonate with anyone attempting to overcome life's hurdles. [See Prepub Alert, 9/30/19.]—Terry Bosky, Madison, WI

Library Journal