The man from Big Sur

Nine Ninety-Nine is a novel about the life and literary work of a paranoid schizophrenic writer, who was hospitalized between 1958 and 1984. He rarely looked people in the face, but, instead, stared at their shoes, ankles, and socks. Living in a closed ward, daily he studied the Bible and edited the Ward M Quarterly, a magazine devoted to the struggle against all authority figures. Over the decades, David Hoffnung, the narrator, received many treatments. In this chapter, he describes his experiences in long-term group psychotherapy.