In Walks on the Margins, Kathy offers a valiant and unapologetic struggle of a mother trying to find a semblance of her son as they are both wrapped in the turmoil of bipolar disorder. Exuding the most resilient love for her son and family, Kathy"s narrative about living with bipolar shows how it feels to be in the circle of those intimately affected by mental illness and in a world beset by institutional failure. Max"s attentive gaze depicts reality through the lens of the artist he is yet to become, unearthing poetry, rhymes and a broad palette of colors in the most sordid of places. With a callous, ruthless self-scrutiny, he retells both his manic and depressive episodes. At times unnerving, the fierce honesty of his prose is ameliorated by humor and a highly visual writing style reminiscent of the vanguard novellas. Max conveys a playful and unsettling beauty that he scratches off the seemly dim surface of day-to-day life. It"s the whiz kid and his vexed mother. His emotional unrest and her unhindered kindness. Mother and son weave their narratives into a single powerful story about surviving bipolar disorder. A finalist for the Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction.