Exploring questions of guilt and responsibility, the second book in Thomas M. Disch's Supernatural Minnesota series, The M.D., is a satisfying mix of dark humor, biting social commentary, and terrifying horror. Given the power to heal or to harm by the Roman god Mercury through a magical staff, the caduceus, young Billy Michaels embarks on a lifelong journey of inflicting good and evil on those who cross his path. Wielding the caduceus, Billy, and later the grown-up, greedy physician William, can only cure in proportion to the amount of suffering he inflicts. From paralyzing his brother and mutilating schoolmates to wreaking a nationwide plague and running for-profit concentration camps for the sick, Michaels's powers spin quickly out of control.
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Book Description
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Endowed with the power to heal or destroy by the Roman god Mercury, Minnesota grade schooler Billy Michaels embarks on a strange lifelong journey. Spanning the early 1970s through 1999, this well-written horror novel takes Billy from childhood innocence and casual cruelty to adult greed and calculated evil. Mercury's gift to Billy is his staff, the caduceus--longtime symbol of the medical profession. Both the child Billy and later the physician William wield this serpentine instrument as one might a sorcerer's wand. A multitude of major and supporting characters, a good many subplots, plus much dark and wicked humor all contribute to the tale's success. By the author of the children's fantasy The Brave Little Toaster and several science fiction works, this lengthy adult entertainment is well suited for summer weekend reading. BOMC alternate.
- James B. Heme sath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
- James B. Heme sath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.
Review
"The M.D. is an extraordinary feat of imagination and frequently is outright mesmerizing." —Washington Post
"Profound and dark and very dire, but it is also a page-turner. And each new page, like an electric eel, is poised to shock." —Los Angels Times
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the usual medical thriller; imaginative and magical,
By
This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)
Young Billy lives with his father and stepmother and younger half-brother Ned. Billy is a loner, and different from other children. He thinks a lot, and has a greater imagination. He also has a streak of meanness, and when he is given a magical stick, with a dead bird tied to it, he finds that he can make things happen. Occasionally, Billy will make something good happen, but most of the time his desires, in the form of poems, are mischievous to downright cruel. After crippling his brother, causing his Grandma's hair to fall out, and stopping his step-mother from drinking by making her vomit every time she tastes alcohol. Billy's odd obsession with bizarre games in his mind, starting with bowling pin armies and ending with his visions over the stick, fuel his imagination and need to keep using his "powers". He gifts members of his family with good health, but his father dies in an accident. Staying with his stepmother, he becomes a Doctor and has an affair with his step-sister, and decides that as a medical professional he can use his "magic". But, will he use it for the good of mankind, or will his tendency towards cruelty lead him down a more sinister path? Only the "confusion" at the end of the story stops this from being a 5 star book, it just seemed a little like Mr. Disch didn't quite know how to finish it.This is a great book, jumping large time frames at times, and long on prose occasionally, but still manages to be a quick read for medical thriller lovers.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine High Terror,
By A Customer
This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)
The M.D. is beautifully written horror ... after enjoying it thoroughly, I lent it to the 12 year old nephew, who plowed through all 600+ pages. I loved Disch as a sci-fi novelist, but his horror show will keep you up at night and give you the willies
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a good beginning, but didn't quite finish it right,
By adead_poet@hotmail.com "adead_poet@hotmail.com" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: The M. D.: A Horror Story by Thomas M. Disch (Paperback)
The first four parts of this book were superbly done. I mean, Disch did an excellent job telling this story, but then the fifth part came. It was a major letdown. Disch couldn't "close the deal." Maybe if he had started the story off in this future he had created, it would have been a better ending, though i think it would have been better if he had just kept on the same vein he was in. Disch was trying to go for a deeper shock value, a deeper sense of outrage and wrong, but his style in the final section of the book just didn't keep up with the rest of the story.
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