Book Ends

"Personally," he said, "my great ambition is to count all this"
--he waved vaguely at the treasure around him--
and possibly sort it into piles."

--The dragon in John Gardner's Grendel

Jo Kasten’s middle child has always been difficult. Fiery, defiant, startlingly handsome and hyper intelligent, Eddy’s childhood years were full of turmoil and conflict. But when he reaches manhood, things change--for the worse. Eddy’s struggle with schizophrenia begins in a men’s bathroom at a local junior college and carries him to the deepest recesses of the human mind. In the midst of his descent, Jo is diagnosed with breast cancer. Count All This is a story of love, madness, death, family loyalty and the primal bond between mothers and sons. Set in the frightening landscape of mental illness and physical disease, Count All This is a story of survival.

I hope this synopsis intrigues you. Previously, you could read the entire book online at this site, or buy a hard copy, if you prefer the feel of a real book in your hands, from links here to Lulu and Amazon.

But now the muse has revisted me, and I'm in the midst of a major rewrite which I believe is increasing the quality of the book TENFOLD, so I'm taking it offline in the interim.

To the readers who already have finished the book, racking up close to 20,000 hits on these pages, THANK YOU! You may find, when the next version is published, that you want to come back and compare the two, to make your own evaluation about the quality of the revision.

To new readers who haven't yet finished, I apologize. Have faith, and you will soon find your book published here again, in an even better, tighter, more exciting, and more beautiful form.

May the muse be with me!

Any comments, observations, well wishes, or questions that you'd like to send along are welcome. To contact the author, please write me at pcferg@pacbell.net.