"Adventures In Manic Depression," is not a book about manic-depression, "although I make no bones that I have been living with this condition since I was nine years old" says author Stuart Goldman. The book is a collection of Goldman's work-both fiction and non-fiction, culled from over 40 years of writing for newspapers and magazines. "The hardest thing about putting this book together," Goldman says, was to find an "order" to put the stories into. A lifetime professional musician, Goldman said that putting "Adventures" together was rather like composing a symphony. "It was all about rhythm, timing, when to use a crescendo, and when to let the music (stories) become so soft that you have to strain to hear them. Ultimately, I was trying to create a mood, more than anything else." Goldman's first draft of "Adventures" was over 750 pages long, and cutting it down to its current 430-page length was "incredibly difficult." He spent the last three months of the year it took him to put the book together, taking it apart and putting it back together, as one would a jigsaw puzzle. "When you have a book that includes straight investigative reportage (Goldman covered both the Menendez Brothers Murder case and the Natalee Holloway Murder Case, for the book) "it's not easy to fit other types of material into that mood set." Coupled with darkly humorous stories, and memoirs-including pieces about the death of both his mother and his father-Goldman says that in writing "Adventures," he's entered virtually every area of the human psyche. As for manic-depression itself, though Goldman states that the book doesn't deal with this subject directly, that "there's no doubt that some of my characters suffer from this malady." "This is definitely not a fun read, says Goldman. "It's a book that's going to take the reader into some very dark places, though it's certainly not without it's moments of joy sadness, and dark humor." Goldman has dedicated the book to his father, Maurice Goldman-a well-known composer of classical (primarily Yiddish) music, and his mother, Ethel Mann Goldman, who, at age 18 was the youngest flautist in the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. Goldman, who gave up playing music professionally (he traveled on the road with a number of country and blues artists, including Doug Kershaw ("The Rajun' Cajun"), John Stewart-former member of the Kingston Trio-and Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, says that when he decided to quit the music scene, he took up writing, "because it was the only other thing I knew how to do. "And if, for some reason, I found that I couldn't' write anymore, I'd wind up playing music again-I'm quite sure of that."
About the Author: Stuart Goldman has been a journalist, investigative reporter and syndicated newspaper columnist since 1971. During that time period, Goldman's writing-both fiction and non-fiction- has found its way into virtually every territory-from true Crime, dark humor, short fiction, investigative journalism, undercover journalism, satire, mystery, murder and mayhem, comic books, satire, to name only a few. Goldman first established himself as a Music Critic at the L.A. Times. He served as the Entertainment Editor at the L.A Free Press and The L.A. Weekly. His Country Music column ran weekly in the Los Angeles Daily News, and his bi-weekly column, "Final Cut," turned him into the most popular columnist in the the Los Angeles Reader, whose sales went over the top after Goldman began writing his column, which earned him the moniker "The Journalistic Hitman." Goldman's pieces have appeared in Penthouse, Oui, Chic, Hustler, Los Angeles Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, National Review, The Calendar Section of the Los Angeles Times, Paris Match, Blackbelt and Inside Kung Fu magazines. Goldman's weekly column currently on WorldNetDaily.com. reaches 2 million readers per week. In the film world, Goldman has optioned three original screenplays. The last one-based upon Goldman's undercover investigation of the tabloid industry, "Spy Vs . Spies" sold to Phoenix Pictures, who attached Oliver Stone to direct the film. When asked who the audience for his book is, Goldman smiles. "I know this might sound egotistical, but I really think there's something here for everyone. The only audience Goldman has not aimed for is the Y.A. market. "Let those kids go read about vampires and zombies and the rest of that garbage." "The first draft of "Adventures" came out to 750 pages, Goldman smiles. My office is stacked with filing cabinets full of pieces that will fill at least two more collections." All I need to do is to find a "good editor." According to Goldman, that's no easy task. "I had to fire at least 10 editors until I finally found someone who could actually do what they said they could do. Most of these people who all themselves editors should go back and get day jobs." Goldman's mentors include John Fante, John Irving, J.D. Salinger, Bruce Jay Friedman, John Barth, Frederick Exeley and Hunter S. Thompson-whom Goldman is often compared to. Whenever Goldman goes to Las Vegas, he still packs a copy of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" in his suitcase.