Solo Pass

A dark yet often funny novel narrated by a man who; for the past two months; has been a patient at a New York City mental ward. Having suffered a breakdown—due to his shattered marriage and an irrational fear of fading away as a human—he now finds himself caught between two worlds; neither of which is a place of comfort or fulfillment: the world of the ward; where abnormality and an odd sort of freedom reign; and the outside world; where convention and restrictive behavior rule. Finally on his way to becoming reasonably "normal" again; he requests and is granted a "solo pass;" which allows him to leave the (locked) ward for several hours and visit the city; with the promise that he will return to the hospital by evening. As he prepares for his excursion; we get a picture of the ward he will temporarily leave behind—the staff and the patients; notably Mandy Reid; a schizophrenic and nymphomaniac who has become his closest friend there. Solo Pass is an unsettling satire that depicts; with inverted logic; the difficulties of madness and normalcy.