Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

You are a human animal.

You are a very special breed,

or you are the only animal.

Who can think, who can reason, who can read.

From KCRW, Santa Monica,

I'm Michael Silverblad, and this is Bookworm.

Today I'm honored to have as my guest,

John Ray, whose new novel,

Low Boy, has just been published

by Farras Drowson-Sheru.

His first novel, The Right Hand of Sleep,

and his second Canaan's tongue, proceed low boy.

And I thought, well, I'm going to start out in the most direct,

but I suspect, risky manner possible.

That is to say, I love the language of schizophrenics.

I remember reading maybe when I was even in high school, that's how long back it goes,

a book called Three Christs of Uppsalanti,

in which three people, each of whom believed himself to be Christ,

were brought to a central insane asylum in Ipsalanti, Michigan.

And they were allowed to confront one another in the suspicion that three separate Christ

would have to either acknowledge that they were delusional or come to convert one another.

...