Gray Matters

About the Book

Gray Matters follows the careers of medical researchers as they attempt to develop techniques to overcome mental illnesses. They coincidentally open unexplored avenues of experimentation on extending life. This may seem to be nothing more than others in the medical field strive to accomplish. In their case, however, they seek to do so by transplanting the brain of one person into the body of another.

It´s not possible you say? Yet who would have thought only a short time ago that we could walk around in reasonably good health with someone else´s heart, liver, lungs, or kidneys implanted in our own body? So what may seem impossible today may become fact tomorrow. But the subject doesn´t need to be taken seriously. It is, after all, a novel and not a scientific tract. The tone, therefore, has been kept as light as possible by scattering some humor throughout. It also contains some material that may not be appropriate for children but can only be considered to be mildly risqué. You will barely blush...or does anyone do that anymore?

To provide for easy reading, the chapters in this book are very short and presented in the form of interrelated snapshots, each complete within themselves and intended to capture some facet of the theme while propelling the story forward. This is in keeping with the needs of many readers who only can find brief periods during which they can dig into a book. The time constraints are the same whether the reading is done on an airplane or during the children’s nap time. Brevity helps these readers because it´s less likely they will get caught in the middle of a chapter by an announcement that the flight is approaching its destination, or by sounds emanating from the nursery.

The storyline of the book has to do with how the researchers individually face the consequences of their discoveries and the resulting decisions they make. But if inclined to, you can also search for some deeper meaning to what is portrayed.

Usually there is merit on both sides of a question. It is this gray area between what is right and what is wrong with the actions of the principals in this story that merits further attention. Basically, what is being asked here is, "How far can humans go with medical science in determining the ultimate fate of the species?" For the moment at least, the answer seems to be, "As far as they are willing to go." So then the question becomes, "How far, do you believe is far enough?" Accompanying you on this quest is a "Greek chorus" consisting of two "everymen" who most often take opposite views of the happenings around them. By the time the book is finished, their thoughts may have helped you firm up your own answer to the question.

Enough already? No, there may still be another level below the surface narrative that can be plumbed. If you want to serch it out here´s a way, then come to your own conclusion!

Quentin Tarantino´s motion picture masterpiece, Pulp Fiction, is filled with symbols. Unraveling its subsurface message requires the viewer to first answer the question, "What was in the attaché case?" Once having reached an opinion on that, meanings can be assigned to the events and characters portrayed. Do your conclusions agree with Tarantino’s intent? Who knows. But attempting it serves to stimulate the gray matter we have stored between our ears.

In Gray Matters, a great deal of thought is given by the characters involved to the question of which is dominant, the brain or the body, when disparate physical and mental attributes are fused. Each concludes, following their own transplants, that they are the same person as before. Because their old bodies have been discarded, they assume the seat of personality is the "modern" brain, and the body is simply a convenient lodging. Each of the main characters, however, undergoes a subtle change they fail to recognize.

About the Author

Al Berutti’s interests are as wide ranging as his working experience: from aircraft mechanic, to electrical engineer, and finally to magazine editor. Although the last provided an opportunity to write and edit on a full time basis, it was the love of history, philosophy, politics, science, mythology, travel and other subjects that had early on served (and continues to serve) as reasons to put pen to paper. Many in this array of topics have been drawn upon by the author to produce a serio-comic novel of fate and the forces that have shaped the destiny of the Clan Keys.