A Madman's Revelation

An artist’s thought-provoking account of the fine line between psychosis and divine revelation—and the power of art to turn a condition widely considered a curse into a gift.

In 2004, recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and en route to an exciting new job in Hollywood, Paul Dalio experienced the first in a series of psychotic breaks that would falsely land him in a jail for the criminally insane. In the biblical tradition of the “mad prophet,” his visions continually foresaw conflicts in the Middle East that have since come true.

With startling honesty, Dalio describes his spiritual encounters with both Christ and Satan, his unlikely bonds with fellow “lunatics” and gang members in Washington Square Park, and the remarkable ways in which his wife helped him maintain a loving connection to their young children through the often-frightening highs and lows of his disease.

Dalio also recounts what it was like to meet individuals who would change his life for the better, including Kay Redfield Jamison, a renowned bipolar psychologist, who helped him understand that medication would not dim his creativity. Dalio eventually recorded an album with DMC, Dead Prez, Talib and wrote, directed, and scored the critically acclaimed 2015 film Touched with Fire with his film school professor Spike Lee as executive producer.

Today, as a mental health advocate, Dalio views the real value of his own journey as the spiritual gift that came from his mind finally breaking free from religious perversion and materialism. Part spiritual journey, part family saga, part prophetic warning, A Madman’s Revelation is an artistic deep dive into the hidden connections between mental illness, creativity, and the dangerous gift of seeing too clearly into tomorrow.

All proceeds of this book will be donated to mental health organizations to eradicate stigma and misunderstanding of bipolar disorder.