Gene Callahan

Puck: a Novel Gene Callahan

Morris had so little of himself to give me because so much of him was desperately battling with his own demons, but I always knew, even if maybe he didn't, that he needed me to be there with him, that I was his lifeline to the rest of the world. Incorporating realism, science fiction, fantasy, and Joycean wordplay, PUCK expresses the universal theme of the ways in which an encounter with the central mysteries of existence can leave one's life profoundly altered. Weaving motifs from Egyptian, Irish, Greek, Tibetan, and Norse mythology into his narrative, author Gene Callahan draws us into the journeys of Dr. Morris Fitzmaurice, a brilliant chemist who is tormented by demons that may or may not be his own. After discovering the cure for psychosis, Dr. Fitzmaurice is nervous and uncomfortable with all the attention he receives. As he feels increasingly isolated by his status, his drug and alcohol consumption also increases, further deteriorating his mental stability. Tracing a pattern as complex and rich as our inner lives, Callahan's unique and evocative tale follows Dr. Fitzmaurice as he encounters one bizarre phenomenon after another, inviting you on a dizzying ride that is alternately comic, tragic, enlightening, and mystifying.