On a Beam of Light - Hardcover

Brewer, Gene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312269269 ISBN 13: 9780312269265

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2001

Synopsis

Five years to the day, almost to the second, after he disappeared form the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute, leaving his host body in a catatonic state, the being known as prot (rhymes with goat) has returned. Now, in sixteen more sessions with psychiatrist Gene Brewer, prot reveals that he has come back to escort a chosen few to his home planet, K-PAX.

K-PAX is an idyllic planet free of the pain and suffering of earth. Prot has incredible insights into how to cure that suffering, and his radical ideas have made him a celebrity. Now, legions of people are longing to follow him home.

But Dr. Brewer has heard it before. Five years ago, he discovered another person buried deep in prot's personality: Robert Porter of Montana. The mystery of Robert's illness and of prot's true origins lie deep within Robert's shattered psyche. Now Dr. Brewer must race against the clock to unlock the secrets of Robert's traumatic past and not only save his patient but maybe humanity.

About this title

About the Author

GENE BREWER was born and raised in Muncie, Indiana, and educated at DePauw University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Before becoming a novelist, he studied DNA replication and cell division at several major research institutions. Dr. Brewer lives in New York City with his wife and Dalmatian.

From Publishers Weekly

Positively captivating, this warmhearted sequel to K-PAX (1995) revisits the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute, where psychiatrist/narrator Dr. Gene Brewer works with a highly unusual patient, a sexually repressed man suffering from multiple personality disorder whose alter ego "prot" (rhymes with goat) claims to be from the utopian planet of K-PAX. In K-PAX, a psychiatric detective story told over the course of 16 therapy sessions, Dr. Brewer eventually reveals prot to be Robert Porter, who fled Montana after killing the man who had just raped and murdered his young wife and daughter. At the novel's conclusion, prot returns to his home planet, promising to reappear "in about five of your years." Robert, meanwhile, is left in a state of intractable catatonia. The sequel opens as prot returns five years later, almost to the minute, and the plot evolves over the course of another 16 therapy sessions. Brewer's diagnosis of multiple personality disorder is confirmed as the tortured events of Robert's past surface and other personas begin to emerge. In the meantime, prot brings solace and healing to the other patients and visits the Bronx Zoo, where he comforts the captive animals with the assurance that humans aren't long for the Earth. As Robert's ego strengthens, prot appears less frequently and Robert's sexual repression disappears. But the lingering presence of prot, his amazing demonstration of light travel on national TV and conflicting DNA tests suggest that prot/Robert actually may be an extraterrestrial. Miracles and love abound in this clever modern fairy tale, pitched somewhere between Oliver Sacks's nonfiction and John Irving's novels. (Mar. 19) Forecast: K-PAX, just out in mass market paperback, has an ardent cult following, and Kevin Spacey is slated to play prot in the film version, all of which should help boost the sequel's sales.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0312269269
• ISBN 13: 9780312269265
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288