The Tsetsefly Chronicles (Paperback)

Erik Ryman probably doesn't exist, just one more personality in a long line of schizophrenic episodes endured or experienced by the author of this book; but it probably doesn't matter. Many books have been written about the descent into mental illness. Many have been written by recovering alcoholics, addicts and people who have come out the other side. Many more have been written by people who can get through a medical journal or have seen friends or family afflicted and closely observed the pain, from every angle. However, this isn't a fictional account based on months of research and neither is it written by some blinking-in-the-light re-life convert. No, not many books have really, truly been written whilst the author is in the midst of a breakdown; not many at all have been carved into the soft cladding of a well padded cell wall, and if you read more, you will probably see why. For it isn't pretty and there are no smooth edges to a degrading brain. If Erik Ryman ever existed, then it was probably for nothing more than the fleeting moment the author's attention focused on a name in a book or a magazine. If Erik Ryman ever existed, then we can only pity him.