Writing and mental illness make excellent bedfellows, for better or worse. The Rapids is an extraordinary personal memoir peppered with film and literary criticism, as well as family history. With reflections on artists such as Carrie Fisher, Kanye West, Robert Lowell, Delmore Schwartz, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Spalding Gray, Twyford-Moore also looks at the condition in our digital world, where someone's manic episode can unfold live in real time, watched by millions. His own story, told unflinchingly, is shocking and sometimes blackly comic. It gives the book an edge that is not always comfortable but full of insight and empathy. The Rapids manages to be both a wild ride and introspective at once, exploring a condition that touches thousands of people, directly or indirectly.

Critic, essayist, and writer, SAM TWYFORD-MOORE is Director and CEO of the Melbourne Agency and the founding host of "The Rereaders," a literary and culture podcast.