Book Review: Two-Headed Dog (Mitch Grabois)

Reviewed by Maura Madden

Two-Headed Dog by Mitch Grabois is a book about schizophrenia. The genre of fiction is a wonderful platform for a discussion of mental illness because, by its nature, it allows readers to experience life outside of their usual point of reference. In Two-Headed Dog Grabois utilizes fiction to show us how it might feel to be inside the mind of a Schizophrenic.

At the most basic level, it is a book about a psychologist who works at a state mental hospital in the Florida panhandle. The psychologist, Hank, has taken a particular interest in one of his patients, Tiffany, a young woman who suffers from Schizophrenia. Tiffany escapes from the hospital and Hank decides that he must find her. In his pursuit he finds himself in all manner of unusual situations.

There are some dynamics, even early in the book, that displayed a negative view towards the mental hospital. The characters use the unflattering acronym FLOPSIE to refer to the hospital. Hank wonders why his unit is 333 when there are less than 20 units at FLOPSIE. The frequent references by characters to "the mental hell system" imply that unit 333 is half way to hell, or 666. His relationship with the orderlies, who were all black, seem very hostile for a psychologist. He describes one, Cruces Pla, in very violent terms; she is always snapping patients with rubber bands. Another, Marcelline, he calls prejudiced and says "Marcelline loved stories of the white man getting his due." Hank believes "the ward staff members" to be "swarming like angry black ants". As the readers understanding of Hank's role shifts, the hostilities towards the staff and the whole system become easier to explain.

The story is told from Hank's point of view. Early on the roles of the characters seem fairly straight forward. Hank is a psychologist, Tiffany his patient, and others in the story are either patients or hospital staff. Some sections of the novel are quite direct and others are very disjointed and hard to follow. As the book continues, it becomes more fantastical. It is obvious that the story is moving from the realm of reality when Hank is reconnected with a childhood friend, Lloyd, who is now a minister with a traveling revival church that he conducts with a pet monkey. Once Lloyd and his monkey enter the story the plot rapidly loses any plausibility. Characters begin appearing out of context and settings, almost as if in a dream.

I cannot pinpoint the exact moment of the story at which it is clear that the schizophrenic subject of the novel is not Tiffany, but Hank himself. Hank is living in a different reality. In addition to the disjointed and unrealistic plot twists Grabois uses numerous other techniques to display the schisms in Hanks' reality. One of these tools is the use of time. Early in the story we learn that the hospital is located very close to the time zone change. The hospital is in one time zone and Hank's house is in another. Hank refers to these two different locations as being in "slow time" and in "fast time." This is symbolic of how his mind works. Sometimes things seem to be moving at the slower pace, in the manner that most people experience life. Hank says that in this time zone "the expectations are lower." At other times his thoughts become fast, wild, and unintelligible. It is surely significant that the route between the two time zones requires that Hank pass over "Victory Bridge."

There are some central themes that emerge during the story. One is the Vietnam War. Early on we learn that the hospital psychiatrist is Vietnamese. We are also told that the unit director "pretends that I'm a Vietnam veteran, which is extremely offensive…but Fez persists, despite my protests." As events unfold the reader pieces together that Hank is in fact a Vietnam War veteran. He was injured, receiving shrapnel in the leg. Many of his fantasies throughout the novel show the awful effect the war has had on him and the extreme guilt he carries.

Sexuality and water are both important elements of the story. Early on Hank discusses characters with the names of Dr. Tuna Fish and Troutman. He fixates on Tiffany in a very sexual way. As Hank's thoughts grow less rational, he believes himself to be becoming stronger and increasingly sexual. He also obsesses about water and sea life more and more. He asks "will life make you happy…or will the octopus arms of melancholy wrap themselves around you and drag you to the depths, where extinct sea creatures…will menace you?" Grabois ties water, sexuality, and the violence of Vietnam all together in the ocean-like pool of Tiffany's father. He believes that the water, "the very medium in which Tiffany swims contributes to her transformational development." Tiffany, the object of his sexual desire, is relieved of her Schizophrenia by swimming in the pool of her weapons-manufacturing father.

Another theme in the novel is abandonment. During his life Hank was abandoned by both his ex-wife, Deanne and his best friend, Lloyd. The story begins as Hank learns that Tiffany has escaped the hospital, also abandoning him. As Hank searches for Tiffany, Lloyd and Deanne also return to him. Hank says that he learned from his mentally ill uncle that life is about chance. He asks, "If you find yourself there, your family and friends might still love you, or…will they…walk away." Hank obsesses over Tiffany running away because he cannot bear to be left again. Whatever the true story regarding Tiffany is, it seems to have prompted increasingly severe psychotic episodes in Hank.

There is a lot going on in Two-Headed Dog. Because it is intentionally hard to follow it can be difficult to get into and understand. Once the reader begins to comprehend all of the underlying aspects of the story, however, the novel is rich on many levels. Grabois leaves the reader with a lot to think about as he addresses the underlying topics of personal relationships, PTSD, religion, and the medical system in his novel about mental illness.

Title: TWo-Headed Dog
Author: Mitch Grabois
Publisher: NOOK book
Publication Date: 2012

 

Maura Madden has a BA in English Literature from Binghamton University and an MA in Education from NYU. She lives in Seattle with her husband and their Cat, Kitty 2.0.