Essential Prose Series 115 - The King of the Sea Monkeys

The King of the Sea Monkeys is a novel in two parts. Because the protagonist suffers from a traumatic brain injury, the first part is fragmented, finding its way in the larger narrative in disorderly pieces. The novel is centered on a young high school teacher: too idealistic at work; too childish at home: living a fairly normal life, but unable to navigate the waters. This "normal" life disintegrates when he is involved in an altercation at a convenience store which ends in a shooting. He survives a terrible injury but the world of the protagonist is undone. Issues of traumatic brain injury are examined and the existence of God comes into question. We find ourselves asking what the framework of a real life is.