Mantis Dreams: The Journal of Dr. Dexter Ripley

by Adam Pottle

Mantis Dreams: The Journal of Dr. Dexter Ripley is a crackling, searing satire that ridicules both political correctness and the restrictive world of academia. But Adam Pottle’s first novel is also a poignant and difficult glance into the world of a man battling a rare and debilitating disease. A wheelchair user living voluntarily in a care home, Dexter Ripley lashes out at all those around him—his behaviour so outrageous yet insightful that Ripley is curiously both repelling and fascinating. With a boisterous, propulsive voice, Dexter Ripley shares his insights on life as a care home resident, his relationships with his sister and her son, his career as a professor, and, despite his bitter nature, his goal of creating a philosophy based on positivity and imagination. Through the voice of this embittered man, Pottle creates a treatise that views disability as a philosophical position rather than a physical or mental condition.

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2013

About the author

Adam Pottle's work spans multiple genres, from fiction and poetry to drama and creative nonfiction. His books include the novel Mantis Dreams, the novella The Bus, the memoir Voice, and the poetry collection Beautiful Mutants.

Reviews

[Leon Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I promised myself that this year I will write reviews for the books I read. Being a published author myself, I feel not giving an opinion is doing a disservice to the author. Fortunately, most reviews will be short and sweet.

I wanted to give 2.5 stars, but you can't, so I figured MD was falling more towards three.

Dexter, the protagonist, pissed me off at some points (not because of his ideas - most of which I agree, especially the 'weak' idea) but because he was such a dick.

The whole book written as a journal is interesting but the novelty wore off on me pretty quickly. I really found it hard not to skip any entries. But I didn't, and am probably better off for not having done so. Though some may argue I could have and wouldn't have missed anything. And to that, well, I couldn't convincingly argue against them.

All in all, a decent read.

And, I did not see one spelling/grammar error. It's been a long time since that happened.