The powerful,moving and turbulent novel of Sally Porter and the multiple personalities she has no idea she lives with... From the award-winning bestselling author of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON:'Heartbreaking,and utterly,completely brilliant'GUARDIANSally Porter is perfectly'ordinary'. A waitress,divorcee,and loner in the great city. But,though she is unaware of it,she is also four other,quite different people: Nola,the cold independent artist who has a studio in Greenwich Village; Derry,the happy-go-lucky tomboy; Bella,the highly-sexed live wire with a talent for singing and dancing; and finally Jinx,the hate-filled killer. Whenever events put too much of a strain on Sally Porter,she feels a headache and a blackout coming on - and a new character takes over. If there is a man to be fascinated,she will become Bella. If there is an intellectual problem,she will become Nola. And - as happens in the opening scene of the novel - if there is a rapist to be dealt with,she becomes the vicious Jinx. It is the task of the wise and patient psychiatrist,Dr. Roger Ash - a man who nevertheless has severe problems of his own - to deal with this case of multiple personality and,through painstaking therapy,to try to fuse the four disparate personalities into "the fifth Sally."
Publisher: Orion Publishing CoISBN: 9781473223790Number of pages: 336Weight: 240 gDimensions: 196 x 128 x 24 mm
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Daniel Keyes has demonstrated a fine sensitivity to the pain of a damaged and disordered personality,and is firm and lucid in presenting what is far more than merely case history. As in Flowers for Algernon,he has made apparent the suffering of a damaged person through a clear reporting of the particulars. I congratulate him for the seriousness of his intent and the skill of its executionKeyes has shown himself as a master craftsman. He moulds words like a woodworker works with wood....What Keyes has pulled off with this new book is the creation of a new point of viewThis is a compelling novel about a fictional Sybil. The story,though imagined,is convincing as the case history of a multiple personality. There is a true rendition of the volatile,divided,and conflicted self,by turns dull,tough,brilliant,cheerful,and depraved. The portrait of the psychiatrist,combining professionalism with a capacity for human suffering and compassion,also has the ring of truth. A tale of a multiple personality,this is also a modern morality novel,revealing five facets of everywoman. And it is a good read
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