Suddenly, madness was everywhere, and I was determined to learn about the impact it had on the way society evolves. I've always believed society to be a fundamentally rational thing, but what if it isn't? What if it is built on insanity?

(On the communist regime of Ceaușescu)"Romania," said Eugene, "was twenty million people living inside the imagination of a madman.

I wondered what sort of woman loved a man like that.

Bedlam: an institution with a history so fearsome it gave its name to a synonym for chaos and pandemonium.