What It Takes to Be HumanThe day after World War II is declared in Canada, Sandy Grey's father, a fundamentalist preacher, won't give him permission to fight. When Sandy's attempt to oppose his father and his upbringing turns violent, he is incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane. There he meets Karl, a German; Winchell, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War; Bob, a homosexual who is singled out for favours by a brutal asylum attendant; along with Russians, Chinese and a few hated Japanese. Unsure how to convince his doctor that he is sane, or of how he fits into the world within a world that is the asylum, Sandy is determined to uncover an historical miscarriage of justice in the hope that it will, by analogy, prove his innocence. "What It Takes To Be Human" exposes the acute parallels between those who are incarcerated and those whose lives are being torn apart by distant conflict. |
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Alan Macaulay Batterbury believe Bob's breadboard breath Brentwood clothes dark Deceased Property door Dr Frank says Dr Love says East Wing Emma Tennant eyes face farm father feel feet fingers finished friends fucking Georgina give gone hand happened head hear Heather inlet insulin ISBN Karl Karl's Kennedy Kosho laughs letter light Lobotomy look Macaulay's MacKenzie Marilyn Bowering mind mother night nods once parents pigeons pocket pull rabbitry rabbits remember Ron Signet Sandy Grey sea serpent shirt shoulder skin sleep smell smile sorry Spanish Civil War stand Stanley Park stop Storehouse of Thought story talk tell There's things Thought and Expression told trees truth truth serum turn W. B. Yeats wait walk wall watch West Wing What's Winchell Winchell's window woman writing