"There are moments when I am twisted by enthusiasm or madness or prophecy, like a Greek oracle on the tripod."

- Vincent van Gogh

Feb. 3, 1889

To comprehend the madness behind the art of Vincent van Gogh requires a lesson in math.

In his brief 10-year career, van Gogh created more than 2,100 paintings and drawings – an average of 210 pieces a year – or one work of art every 42 hours. By contrast, Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, van Gogh’s one-time friend, produced 497 pieces during his 30-year career. Another contemporary, Paul Cezanne, created 488 works over 45 years.

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THE BAG LADY PAPERS: The Priceless Experience of Losing It All, by Alexandra Penney. Voice; 240 pages; $23.99.

In a strange twist of sympathy, the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme provided a rare "nana nana boo boo" moment for the masses of have-nots.

Spiteful, anonymous writers clogged the Internet with sarcastic posts about ironing, flying coach and do-it-yourself manicures — the plight of the nouveau poor.

No one provided more fodder than Alexandra Penney, the retired editor of Self magazine who lost the fortune she had squirreled away from several best-selling ’80s-era sex books and her career as a top Condé Nast editor in New York City.

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I just watched two episodes of a television show called Intervention, and if I was not sitting in front of this computer right now I would be watching the program that comes on after intervention, called Obsessed, about people with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders.

I am trying to figure out how I feel about these programs and why I am drawn to them. Is A&E, the network that produces these shows, exploiting the poor souls who suffer from these mental illnesses? Is this the latest fad in reality TV? Am I just a vapid voyeur, using this program to prop my ego? “At least I wasn’t that bad.” Or do I watch to get a dose of “But for the grace of God”?

I think I like these programs because they dispel the myth that we addicts/alcoholics/mentally ill are the spawn of equally addicted/alcoholic/mentally ill parents who have matted hair, greasy clothes and live in dilapidated tenements.
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