'The Marriage of True Minds' by Stephen Evans
BOOK REVIEW
There are lobsters in the mayor's pool and an arraignment scheduled. Can this environmental attorney/activist meanwhile win back his ex-wife?
WHEN A novel opens with the scene of an indoor pool filled with lobsters and enough ice to keep them alive, and the environmental attorney who rigged this stunt in a mayor's mansion makes his getaway in a stretch limo accompanied by a sheep-dog puppet, it's hard not to think, here we go again: another spoof on enviro-terrorists to make the reader cringe at their outrageous acts while feeling guilty about the dire straits our Earth is in.
But "The Marriage of True Minds" has no dead bodies (if you don't count a euthanized dog), no mystery to solve; it's not so much a spoof as it is a love story, an unconventional love story at that. Instead, through mentally ill protagonists, comic book heroes and plenty of good lines, playwright Stephen Evans delivers in his debut novel an oddly serious message that has little to do with saving the world and is more of a reminder to save ourselves.
When Nick Ward ends up in the psych ward for this latest stunt, his ex-wife and law partner, Lena Grant, again comes to rescue him. She claims it's the last time, which is our first hint that she and Nick aren't really through. Inside Nick's new residence -- complete with barred windows and straitjacket -- we meet Oscar, the attendant on Nick's floor who always carries a classic comic book in his back pocket and passes along philosophical teachings from his heroes, and Sancho, the puppet that abetted the lobsters-in-the-pool act. Nick has been diagnosed with "delusional disorder." The psychiatrist explains it as extraordinary brain activity, or as "French philosopher René Descartes once said: 'I think, therefore I am.' In a sense, [Nick] thinks too much, so he isn't who he is."
Lena represents Nick at his arraignment; her stiff, lawyerly boyfriend is the opposing counsel. When we first enter the courtroom, Nick is playing tick-tack-toe with Sancho, and Oscar is draped over the wooden railing between the defense table and the gallery, reading an "Iron Man" comic book. As the case is heard, Nick interrupts repeatedly, spouting irrelevant legal cases, points of law and his love for Lena. To complicate the situation, the charges are dropped in exchange for Lena taking custody of Nick while he serves his sentence of mandatory counseling and 160 hours of community service at an animal shelter.
