It arrived surrounded by buzz that, since the author had unprecedented access to the Monk family, he could finally answer those lingering questions about his "mental illness"—as in, was Thelonious schizophrenic, bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, or something else?

The book is dense, with 588 pages of meticulous detail. After a few chapters I decided to scan the index for mentions of bipolar disorder, and judge the relevant evidence for myself. (In the process, I was delighted to discover citations to some of my own work, on page 507).

I'm happy to report that Kelley spends most of his time on Monk's accomplishments and loving relationships; as a result, much of what follows in this column is only from Chapter 17, "People Have Tried To Put Me Off as Being Crazy" (pp. 214-224).

Although Kelley shows great discernment in citing my writings [!], he also demonstrates limited understanding of what bipolar disorder truly is (or has been agreed to be, since there are many professionals who question its existence as a discrete medical entity). Kelley also makes several glaring errors. For instance, on page 215 he writes that "cyclothymia" [is] a "depressed state," when it is not; the word "dysthymia" is closer to what he means, but both terms refer not to a state but a kind of "trait"—i.e., an ongoing tendency for someone's mood to be mildly depressed (dysthymic) or cycle between ups and downs (cyclothymic). Similarly, "hypomania" is not a manic state—it too is milder, "beneath" mania, as its prefix would indicate—and again, this is neither alarming nor unusual.

Unfortunately, Kelley perpetuates a more destructive stereotype when he says that "common traits of manic behavior include... violent actions," when the truth is that mental patients, as a group, are actually less violent than the general population. He also lumps in "a marked tendency to seek out other people" as if this were another "symptom" of mania (p. 215); if that's so, lots of us social types are in trouble.

The fact is that, like many laypeople (as well as far too many professionals), Kelley confuses a serious condition with an eccentric personality. Before psychiatry made everything a [reimbur$able] flaw, "cyclothymic" people were simply considered "moody"; they didn't suffer from any inherent mental disorder. When people experienced negative life events, they were able to panic, rant, rail at the gods, weep, and even act bizarrely for a bit without incurring a dark diagnosis that subsequently followed them to the grave (and beyond).

According to Kelley, Monk's first hospitalization in 1957 was precipitated by a car accident that followed a year full of unusual stressors. But somehow Monk emerged three weeks later without any diagnosis at all: "no one knew what was wrong with Monk, not even the highly trained staff at Bellevue" (p. 214). Given the ease with which inpatients became "paranoid schizophrenics" back then, it's remarkable that the staff didn't document any psychiatric disorder in Monk.

Kelley says it took about 20 years before Monk was "correctly" diagnosed as bipolar, since once he started taking lithium, the favored treatment at the time, he seemed to improve; by then, he was also at the age when such episodes tend to trickle off. Armed with this diagnosis, Kelley retroactively frames many of Monk's behaviors as "symptoms" although they could also have been triggered by exhaustion, drinking, severe financial problems, and drugs. Some depressions followed the deaths of his beloved mother and nephew ("he got nutty," diagnosed his son [p. 344]), and being beaten by the police in Delaware.

Moreover, for years Monk took "vitamin shots" which were laced with Benzedrine (speed) (pp. 267, 318). This could agitate anyone, causing addiction and other life disruptions, and the doctor who peddled them eventually had his license suspended. But even when Monk refused to play or leave his room, his mind reportedly remained as sharp and witty as ever (p. 444). This is not psychosis: this is choice. His recurring ability to bounce back from bad behavior to disciplined, brilliant music-making (sometimes the next day) is a testament to his strength, not his craziness. And while Kelley mentions Monk's father's long hospitalization as evidence of some genetic predisposition to mental illness, he also points out that black men were often involuntarily committed in those days to be exploited as laborers (p. 216).