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Powderhouse
Jens Bjorneboe Book Review

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Plot Summary of Powderhouse
"POWDERHOUSE is the second volume in the "History of Bestiality" trilogy by the Norwegian writer Jens Bjorneboe. It is set in a surrealistic mental hospital in Alsace. A bizarre cast of doctors and patients are woven around a series of therapeutic lectures on such topics as the permanent witch hunt, capital punishment, and the role of the heretic in history. By turns gruesome, lyrical and funny, this explosive book bursts the bounds of genre."
Esther Greenleaf Murer (translator), Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Powderhouse
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - general liberal/left wing activism - fighting for free speech/press - death penalty - religious issues
Family, caring for ill Yes
because he/she is - mentally ill
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric - mentally ill
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - France

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very explicit references to deaths and torture
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - actual description of hetero sex - male homosexuals doing their thing
Lot of foul language? Yes
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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The Glass Teat by Harlan Ellison
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