A Cuckoo's Masterpiece

Book excerpt: 'A Cuckoo's Masterpiece' is an intriguing story about a religious old man spending his last days in an asylum. He starts to go crazy and imagines writing letters to his atheistic nephew, Thomas, a psychiatrist of international repute. He wants an approval for his forthcoming masterpiece. He 'writes' about panaceas for some of the world's ills. However, he cannot fathom a Utopia without religion which is extremely important to him. Although muddled for the most part, his 'letters' at times offer insightful observations about life in general and a purposeful life in particular, but they always fall short of his inner feelings. In the end he becomes delirious and dies of a massive heart attack. Review by Prof. Susannah Robbins, Ph.D. (Eng. Lit.), former Vassar professor