From a review of a book by Benjamin Markovits A Quiet Adjustment, a fictionalized story of the marriage of Lord Byron:
The only-you-can-save-me bad boy act has been catnip to countless generations of young ladies, and certainly Annabella (Miss Annabella Milbanke) responded to this come-on, admiring Byron's talent and intelligence, not to mention his good looks and position in society. She was confident she could prune his flaws and water his genius after they were married. Byron, for his part, was intrigued by this self-possessed young woman who declined to throw herself at him. Her refusal of his first proposal only heightened the poet's fascination for her. He was to pursue her for two more years before she accepted.
And, in the other paper today, from an article about the lead singer and songwriter Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows (not one of my faves):
“My life is like being on acid, all the time,” he says. “It’s an associative disorder, so the world doesn’t look real. And I know that it is real — people tell me it is — but that doesn’t help much.”
The worst period was pre-diagnosis, from 2003 to 2006, when he hid in his apartment, forced himself to stop writing and shuddered when physicians proposed treatments such as electro-shock therapy.
“And the problem is, you begin to get scared all the time, and then you begin to drift away. Because the world’s not real, people aren’t real, so you don’t need to be connected to anyone or anything,” he says.
