A Memoir That Defies Convention
Patient 719 sits alone in the Asylum pushing buttons on the machine inside his head. He moves his mind between reality and unreality, from the past, into the future, and always in the present.
ONE OLD MAN, 12 different personas, 100 years, and millions of people playing the many "Games of Life," from 1943 to 2043.
Journey Through Twelve Lives
Meet Butch, an eight-year-old boy who loves baseball; The Sailor, who plays a part in the Cuban Missile Crisis; Hercules, a bongo-beating teenage poet; Steven, who grows up with that name instead of Dennis; Tex, a high school "Lothario" who has a close brush with death; Nevets, who wishes to remain anonymous; Big Brother, a 21-year-old college freshman; Doc, a professor and chair of marketing at three universities; Ensign Immaculaté, a U.S. Navy Air Reserve Officer; the Right Wabbit and his sidekicks as they adventure throughout Europe; and Patient 719.
A Century of Stories in One Mind
This memoir spans an entire century, weaving together the fragmented experiences of one individual expressed through twelve distinct personas. From the historical backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis to projections into 2043, Steven Leshay crafts a narrative that challenges traditional memoir structure. Each persona represents a different facet of identity, exploring how one life can contain multitudes.
Experimental Narrative Structure
The unconventional format moves fluidly between past, present, and future, questioning the nature of memory, identity, and reality itself. Patient 719 serves as both narrator and subject, creating a psychological exploration that sits at the intersection of autobiography and literary experimentation. The asylum setting provides a framework for examining consciousness and the boundaries between personas.
For Readers Who Appreciate
This paperback from Palmetto Publishing appeals to readers interested in psychological narratives, experimental literature, and unconventional approaches to life writing. The multi-persona structure offers insight into mental health themes while maintaining literary sophistication. Spanning from childhood baseball games to European adventures, from academic life to military service, this memoir encompasses diverse experiences unified by a singular consciousness navigating its own complexity.
