GH's Maurice Benard pens emotional memoir; release set for early 2020

From playing one of General Hospital's most popular characters to his struggles with mental health issues, there's nothing Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) won't cover in his upcoming memoir, titled "Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital."

General Hospital star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos; ex-Nico Kelly, All My Children) is one of the most beloved and celebrated actors in the genre, and now the two-time Emmy Award-winning performer is set to give fans the ultimate gift: a memoir that provides an intimate look into his life, his stardom, and how his struggles with bipolar disorder have shaped his career and his decision to become an advocate for mental health.

The Harper Collins book -- titled Nothing General About It: How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital -- is described as chronicling Benard's "youth in a small town and his tenuous relationship with his father. He describes how his bipolar disorder began to surface in childhood, how he struggled to understand the jolting mood swings he experienced, and how a doctor finally saved his life. For years Maurice was relentless in his goal to be a successful actor. But even after he 'made it,' he still grappled with terrifying lows, breakdowns, and setbacks, all while trying desperately to maintain his relationship with his wife, [Paula], who endured his violent, unpredictable episodes. Maurice holds nothing back as he bravely talks about what it was like to be medicated and institutionalized, and of how he learned to manage his manic episodes while on the set of GH."

According to Harper Collins' website, Nothing General About It is also "an incredible love story about an enduring marriage that demonstrates what those vows -- for better, for worse, in sickness and in health -- truly mean. Maurice also pays tribute to the community that has been there for him through thick and thin, and ruminates on the importance of both inherited and created family."

Benard, who celebrated his 25-year-anniversary at GH in August of last year, recently told Soaps In Depth: "[This book] is pretty intense, as you would imagine. It's about my life, and you guys are going to be tripping, because there's a lot of stuff in it that's dark, funny, cool, sexy. I can't wait."

Nothing General About It, which includes a 16-page insert featuring approximately 50 photographs, is set to be released on April 7, 2020. However, fans can preorder the book now via this link.

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In addition to working on General Hospital and his upcoming memoir, Benard recently appeared in Nightmare Cinema with The Young and the Restless' Mark Grossman (Adam Newman), played notorious real-life mobster John Gotti in Lifetime's The Victoria Gotti Story, and has also been filming Equal Standard alongside musician/actor Ice-T.

Do you plan to read Maurice Benard's memoir when it becomes available? Are you intrigued to know more about the actor's personal and professional journey? What parts of his life are you most interested in learning more about? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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