Dirk Wittenborn

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

A Novel

Inventing a drug that appears to have happiness-inducing qualities, a mid-twentieth-century Yale professor is launched into fame before his experiments go awry and a research subject commits murder.

Pharmakon, or the Story of a Happy Family

deb1cbfe-22c0-4d0a-b4df-8a641ced1aea-1

An epic novel about family secrets and the consequences of ambition William Friedrich, an ambitious professor of psychology at Yale in 1952, has stumbled upon a drug that promises happinessaand that can make him a famous man. When his experiment goes awry, and a research subject commits murder, the consequences will haunt him and his family forever. Pharmakon is an epic novel, an invocation of the quest for bliss, for love, for family, and all of the betrayals that follow. We follow the Friedrichs from the well-ordered suburban life of postwar America through the chaos and freedom of the counterculture, into the drug-fueled, media-crazed eighties and beyond. In William Friedrich, Wittenborn has defined the archetypal American patriarch: a miracle worker and source of strength to everyone except those he loves the most. Pharmakon is also a layered, thoughtful search behind the veil of psychopharmacology as we know it todayaa tale not only of the consequences of research, but also of the complex personalities, appetites, and struggles that created it. Honest, insightful, and ruefully funny, Pharmakon captures formative moments of the twentieth century, the quirks of an American family, and will enthrall fans of the novels of John Irving.

Category - Fiction / Family & Relationships

Format - Paperback

Condition - Excellent

Listed - A month ago

Est. Publication Date - Jun 2009

Additional Information

Publisher Description

Pharmakon, or the Story of a Happy Family

By:

$3.00

Condition

Format

Meet the seller

Discover more