Description

By Dolly Sen

ISBN: 978-1-905610-94-5
Published: 2006
Pages: 184
Key Themes: schizophrenia, manic depression, bi-polar disorder, abuse, self-harm, activism

An epistle to equality, tolerance and the true beauty of madness. Dolly Sens powerful personal pilgrimage to love, life and humanity again is a very intimate tale about the power of dreaming, taking control and fighting for the right to be oneself and to be equal and to be accepted – David Morris, Senior Policy Adviser to the Mayor Disability, Greater London Authority

Description

Dolly Sens second book, Am I Still Laughing, is the follow up to her acclaimed memoir, The World is Full of Laughter. Her first book started out as a possible suicide note and ended up as a celebration of life. The brutally honest account of living with madness has been an inspiration to readers around the world, and has positively changed many peoples lives. In Am I Still Laughing Dolly describes her childhood with a father who was a small-time singer and actor, through him she worked as an extra on various films including the Star Wars epic, The Empire Strikes Back, until Steven Spielberg sacked her because he thought her child-breasts were too big for the part of an underfed child slave. Confused by sci-fi reality and day-to-day fiction Dolly traces her madness all the way back to when I worked on The Empire Strikes Back. It wasn’t a film, it was reality, and it was up to me to maintain the good and evil in the universe’.

About the Author

Author, poet and activist Dolly Sen lives in Streatham, South London. Born in 1970, she had her first psychotic experience aged 14 which lead her to leave school. After years of mental illness, probably bought on by an abusive childhood, Dolly decided she should write about her experiences. She was inspired to write her own story after reading Jason Peglers autobiography A Can of Madness. She has since written five books, become a successful performance poet who has toured throughout Europe and has set up two charities. Dolly is a key figure in the mental health movement and regularly appears on television and radio talking about mental health issues.