Playthings

Description

Alex PhebysPlaythingsis a visceral and darkly comic portrait of severe mental illness based on the true story of nineteenth-century German judge and patient of Freud, Daniel Paul Schreber. While deftly exploring the ideas of madness and sanity, of reality and delusion, Pheby reflects Schrebers disordered mind in vertiginous prose, and compassionately reveals the humanity and tragedy of his psychosis.Praise forPlaythings[A] skillfully rich novel . . . A close third-person voice situatesPlaythingsin an eerie place between a lived account of insanity and a careful observation of a minds unraveling . . . [A]gile and wily.New York Times Book ReviewMarvellously surprising and vivid, something new. Somehow inside the shape of an old story he traces fresh experiences as if for the first time. The detail is so sensuously precise. Impressed as I havent been by a new novel for a while.Tessa Hadley in theNew York TimesBold immersive compassionate [InPlaythings], we are made to see a logic to Schrebers psychosis and an illogicality and madness in the actions of the doctors and people around him It is this humanizing aspect of the novel which is most valuable; we are reminded of the immense tragedy of his experiences of illness, experiences that are too often removed from the context of life.The Times Literary SupplementIntricate and intelligenteffectively transports readers into Schrebers experience and tragedy. Publishers WeeklyA highly detailed, emotional plunge into the mind of a disturbed man An intense, immersive reading experience that provides real insight into those afflicted with severe mental illness.KirkusThroughout this compelling novel the space between reader and Schreber becomes a sombre reminder of how alone we all are.The GuardianIf Playthings is a neuronovel then its arguably the best neuronovel ever written, particularly in its depiction of memory and the instability of personality. But it transcends any such category and is simply a superb novel tout court, Kafkaesque in its nightmarish fluency and a powerful exposition of Kants celebrated view that the madman is a waking dreamer.Literary ReviewA haunting new novel [Pheby] doesnt merely relate Schrebers illness. He invites us to inhabit it using prose that is both precise and beautiful. His disjointed prose conveys disordered thinking.New ScientistAlex Pheby s novelPlaythings, about one of Freuds patients, takes us inside the experience of delusion, turning perception upside down and the results are darkly comical as well as tragic.The Psychologist