Synopsis
This is a novel of schizophrenia, told by Arthur, a man who staggers through the disease. Ground-breaking, and much praised by writers such as Anthony Burgess, perhaps inspirational to Ken Kesey.
Library Journal
First published in Paris 30 years ago, this novel by noted playwright Ableman is being released in the United States for the first time. Although the narrator is a young schizophrenic confined to a hospital bed, the reader gets involved with his wanderings ``outside of the hospital walls.'' The characteristics associated with the narrator's severe mental disorder include intellectual deterioration, social isolation, and perhaps delusions about life; and certainly the social isolation becomes evident whenever the narrator hears the voice of his brother Arthur--a voice that, throughout the novel, he is always trying to impress. The reader finally comes to empathize with the narrator and his plight. Strongly recommended.-- Vicki Cecil, Johnson Cty. P.L., Greenwood, Ind.