Patient 002

by Floyd Skloot

Fiction. "After writing piercing and lucid memoirs and poems about his struggles with a neurological disorder, Skloot returns to fiction in his first novel in 10 years [PATIENT 002] to ponder the anguished yet sometimes munificent revelations of illness, while taking a few shots at the pharmaceutical industry. A helicopter pilot in Vietnam and an athletic and fiery opinion analyst in Portland, Oregon, Sam is afflicted with a cruelly marauding virus that is obliterating his physical strength and mental acuity. He signs up for a drug trial, hoping for a miracle cure, as does the hyperchatty Tracy, who seems to be getting better until the program is abruptly aborted by the perhaps speciously named Physicians for Ethical Research. Sam, abetted by Jessica, who is equally skilled in therapeutic massage and computer hacking, decides to fight back. Skloot turns an involving tale of the mind-body puzzle with a magnetic cast of unusual characters into an archly funny caper, infusing this masterfully understated, tender, and shrewd tale of love and healing with insight, compassion, and a touch of righteous indignation."-Donna Seaman, Booklist.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Floyd was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1947, and moved to Long Beach, NY, ten years later. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with a B.A. in English, and completed an M.A. in English at Southern Illinois University, where he studied with the Irish poet Thomas Kinsella. From 1972 until becoming disabled by viral-borne brain damage in 1988, Floyd worked in the field of public policy in Illinois, Washington, and Oregon. He began publishing poetry in 1970, fiction in 1975, and essays in 1990. His work has appeared in many major literary journals in the US and abroad. His seventeen books have won wide acclaim and numerous awards, and are included in many high school and college curricula. In May, 2006 he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Franklin & Marshall College.


An Oregonian since 1984, Floyd moved from Portland to rural Amity when he married Beverly Hallberg in 1993. They lived in a cedar yurt in the middle of twenty hilly acres of woods for 13 years before moving back to Portland.


Floyd's daughter, the nonfiction writer Rebecca Skloot, lives in Memphis, TN, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Memphis and works as a freelance writer. Her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, was published by Crown Books in February, 2010 and became an immediate NY Times and Indie Bound bestseller. Her work has been included in the Best Creative Nonfiction, Best Food Writing and Women’s Best Friend anthologies as well as appearing regularly in the New York Times Magazine, Popular Science, O: Oprah’s Magazine and elsewhere. Her boyfriend, writer and actor David Prete, author of Say That to My Face (Norton, 2003), recently completed his second book of fiction and teaches writers how to improve their public reading skills. Floyd's stepson, Matthew Coale, lives with his wife and two children in Vancouver, Washington.


Floyd's current projects include new poems and essays that are slowly shaping into a new book.

Reviews

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a book revolving around a clinical trial could be this good. The reason it is? Characters, characters, characters. That and a little bit of relatability.

This is a fictional account about the nonfictional drug ampligen: a drug that's been in and out of clinical trials for the last 20+ years, with a streaming wake of anecdotal praise that hasn't been matched by FDA approval. It's the drug in search of a disease, with many patients that swear by the drug, had their lives literally saved by the drug, and relapsed back down into the nadirs of chronic illness after having the drug taken away.

The characters are a mix of tragically comical, heartwarming, and stalwart supporters that every chronically-ill patient wishes they had in their own lives. The knowledge of the disease is born of Floyd's first-hand suffering, and hence accurate to the t. The evolution from participation from a group of patients in a clinical trial to the group unilaterally joining in an adventure born out of selflessness and salvaging what little good remains is exciting, hard to believe, yet inspiring altogether.

[Catherine Symchych · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love it, but the characters’ dialogue was so engaging that I kept going. There were clear moments of unbelievability, and I hated that they kept referring to “your disease” without giving it a name, but there were enough good points to keep going. I don’t think it gave me a realistic look at drug trials to form an opinion either way, but I’m good with that.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just picked this one off the shelves and thought it would be good. It started off interesting - big drug company administering drug trial. It told of a group of clinical trial subjects and their journey. I just couldn't get into the characters. They were so unbelievable as was the storyline. Just fell flat for me.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't care for the ending, but there's no question that this guy can write.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it at all. Only read 1/2. Was too slow and boring. Sam has a virus and he's in a drug trial.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved his short story collection, but this one, I struggled through. Though the characters were compelling after a while.

[Mindie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd