Age on 11.11.2006
PHIL BROWN IS A
natural at mining his
neuroses and bodily
afflictions for rueful
humour that reflects
the obsessions of his
time. With an
admirable lightness
of touch, he sketches his young,
confused self lurching from one
religion to another, one doctor to
another, one New Age guru to
another in search of salvation of
body and soul.
He does a
correspondence course in
Catholicism and is so thorough in
first confession that he almost puts
the priest to sleep. He seeks a cure
for his stomach ulcer with
evangelical Pastor Ray.
Depressed
after his father's death, he finds
himself admitted to hospital by his
psychiatrist and later almost starves
to death on a health farm.
Eventually he finds a cure with a
celebrity healer - or at least a
temporary feeling of wellbeing. I
suspect a lot of people will see
glimpses of themselves in Brown's
self-deprecating and whimsical
quest for health and happiness.
