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Miswired
Dr. David Sternn is a physician who has received deep brain stimulation for his treatment resistant depression. He is also an addict in recovery and his psychiatrist, who controls the level of stimulation he gets, is concerned that he may be abusing the process. The two are locked on a collision course that eventually spirals out of control. This novel deals with existing technology that can be helpful but also abused and confronts the sometimes fine line between therapy and performance/mood enhancement.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2013
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December 18, 2015
After a life of depression and addiction resistant to all drugs and therapies, Dr. David Sternn undergoes an innovative brain procedure that seems an almost miraculous cure. His well-being, however, is controlled by a device in the hands of his psychiatrist; a situation that leads to an inevitable showdown.
From the start, Angress pulls readers into Sternn’s world via a therapy session centered on the doctor’s suicidal thoughts. Utilizing first-person narrative, and internal dialogue to create immediacy and an intimate connection with the protagonist, the author thrusts us deeper and deeper into the fragile psyche of a man who must obsessively weigh all possible ramifications of an elevator ride. Brilliantly constructed, Angress makes real the depths of Sternn’s illness crafting a character whose self-centered cynicism, existential ruminations, and horror at interacting with people and the world at large are reminiscent of Jean-Paul Sartre’s, Nausea or Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar. Sternn’s history is revealed from his boyhood as the son of Holocaust survivors through his college drug use, medical school in Mexico, love life, and work as an emergency room physician by interspersing first- and third-person episodes. This technique not only allows for the smooth insertion of technical, medical, and factual detail, but lightens the reader’s burden of living constantly in this character’s broken mind. At the same time it creates just the right pace for the story to proceed. The author further whets our expectations by dropping appetizing hints here and there about one-Umberto Waller. Angress, who is himself a recovering addict and an addiction psychiatrist, is spot on describing medical procedures and technologies, as well as the slippery emotional states of depressives and addicts. He is also in tune with the mindsets of people on both sides of the psychiatrist’s desk. As story and back-story progress, we see all facets of David Sternn. He is by turns intelligent, professional, cunning, and hopeless, with an outsize ability to rationalize; such as when he writes himself a prescription to a controlled substance. In fact, we come to know Sternn so well, that even though the end is a surprise, it is none-the-less wholly in character.
Miswired is science fiction with the emphasis on science, not some far-distant future science, but today’s cutting edge medical technology. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the human animal, and a damn good, expertly told story.
From the start, Angress pulls readers into Sternn’s world via a therapy session centered on the doctor’s suicidal thoughts. Utilizing first-person narrative, and internal dialogue to create immediacy and an intimate connection with the protagonist, the author thrusts us deeper and deeper into the fragile psyche of a man who must obsessively weigh all possible ramifications of an elevator ride. Brilliantly constructed, Angress makes real the depths of Sternn’s illness crafting a character whose self-centered cynicism, existential ruminations, and horror at interacting with people and the world at large are reminiscent of Jean-Paul Sartre’s, Nausea or Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar. Sternn’s history is revealed from his boyhood as the son of Holocaust survivors through his college drug use, medical school in Mexico, love life, and work as an emergency room physician by interspersing first- and third-person episodes. This technique not only allows for the smooth insertion of technical, medical, and factual detail, but lightens the reader’s burden of living constantly in this character’s broken mind. At the same time it creates just the right pace for the story to proceed. The author further whets our expectations by dropping appetizing hints here and there about one-Umberto Waller. Angress, who is himself a recovering addict and an addiction psychiatrist, is spot on describing medical procedures and technologies, as well as the slippery emotional states of depressives and addicts. He is also in tune with the mindsets of people on both sides of the psychiatrist’s desk. As story and back-story progress, we see all facets of David Sternn. He is by turns intelligent, professional, cunning, and hopeless, with an outsize ability to rationalize; such as when he writes himself a prescription to a controlled substance. In fact, we come to know Sternn so well, that even though the end is a surprise, it is none-the-less wholly in character.
Miswired is science fiction with the emphasis on science, not some far-distant future science, but today’s cutting edge medical technology. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the human animal, and a damn good, expertly told story.
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