Dr. Sean Pauzauskie is a neurologist and human rights advocate with a lifelong passion for literature. In his debut novel, he draws on this background to explore the emerging issue of neurorights and what it means to be human in the 21st century. Stage of Fools follows business mogul Steven Levinson as he traipses through memory and imagination after an accident leaves him comatose. Here’s everything you need to know before the book hits shelves on October 20!
Trigger Warning: Stage of Fools contains discussions of violence, death, and war. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Synopsis
In the intensive care unit of San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Hospital, billionaire business tycoon Steven Levinson lies motionless in a coma. It’s been six weeks since Steven and his young protégé, Thomas Mariner, shipwrecked in the Queen Charlotte Islands, and Steven has yet to wake up. But despite being unable to communicate or open his eyes, Steven can hear every conversation transpiring in his hospital room — even the ones his visitors would prefer remain private. As his life seems to unravel around him, Steven, powerless to intervene, retreats into his memories. There, he must confront his shadowy history as he struggles to return to consciousness and reclaim his life.
A Stunning Literary Debut
Though I cannot act, I can listen. Feel. Think. Remember. And am happy to recount what I have learned, to those who’ll listen—to feel, think, at their own free will—as I await my fate.
— Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, Stage of Fools
Dr. Sean Pauzauskie’s debut heralds a promising literary career. The first book in the Thomas Mariner Neurotechnology trilogy, Stage of Fools is a tribute to Pauzauskie’s dual passion for neuroscience and storytelling. By setting the narrative inside the mind of a coma patient, he interrogates fascinating ideas around our evolving definition of humanity as mental augmentation and other forms of brain science become increasingly normalized. These complex concepts are framed through familiar themes of identity and human connection, making them more accessible to readers.
A Contemporary Take on King Lear
This weighs so heavily on the remnants of my abilities that I am comforted only by the truth. I can do nothing. As the fool reminded me, nothing comes of nothing. And so what I’ve set in motion, by my choices, is all there is and all that will be.
— Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, Stage of Fools
Shakespeare’s King Lear has received countless adaptations over the years, and with Stage of Fools, Pauzauskie adds another iteration to the list. In this version, King Lear is spiritually succeeded by billionaire Steven Levinson, who learns a devastating lesson when his plan to divide his assets amongst his three daughters results in a familial rift. Other King Lear characters are also retooled to fit this modern interpretation. The fool, for instance, becomes Steven’s inner critic, providing both perspective and humorous jabs to help him face his mistakes. Likewise, the Earl of Gloucester and his sons are reimagined as doctors enmeshed in hospital politics. In the realm of Shakespeare retellings, Stage of Fools is one of the most inventive renditions yet.
A Personal Reckoning With the Past
And I saw for the first time the suffering of the past and present transform in my heart from an eternal void of darkness to an enduring hope.
— Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, Stage of Fools
Much of Stage of Fools takes place in the far reaches of Steven’s memory as he traces the path from past to present to understand the tragic trajectory of his life. Filled with regret over disowning his youngest daughter, he must perform a spiritual autopsy to determine where he went wrong — and how he might correct his mistakes if granted a second chance. In unearthing the roots of his personal faults, Steven undertakes a transformation of mind and soul that serves as the narrative’s guiding thread. This excavation of Steven’s history illustrates the tremendous power of the past to shape our psyches.
A Meditation on the Fragility of Identity
And then as I remained there, sensing Danny’s presence but not seeing him, in my hospital room at Parnassus, truths began to fall, washing over my soul like rain. I had left Danny out because I’d been left out. I’d sent him to war because I’d been sent to war. I wondered if he’d forgive me. For not knowing until now. That my father had left me out because he was trying to protect me from what he’d done. That making it in the world the way I had was better than the alternative. I wondered if Camille would forgive me for thinking I could save her—that we could save each other. I wondered if the play Lia and I had seen a thousand times about the old king, and that my brain thought I needed at St. Mary’s and up until now had truly prepared me. What vanity and insanity I was protecting.
— Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, Stage of Fools
Is self-identity just a lie we tell ourselves? In Stage of Fools, Steven is forced to confront this question when everything he thought he knew about himself begins to crumble under the weight of reality. Through rigorous self-reflection, he comes to terms with the ways in which his actions have been unknowingly influenced by his father and the hurt that lingers in that relationship. It’s this epiphany that forces him to acknowledge his role in perpetuating the cycle of familial dysfunction he hoped would end with him. Consequently, Steven must salvage the shattered pieces of his identity and reconstruct his self-image at the cost of his own ego and sanity. His personal enlightenment journey exemplifies the heavy toll knowing oneself can exact.
Final Thoughts
Stage of Fools by Dr. Sean Pauzauskie asks: What does it mean to be human in an age of rapid neurotechnological advancement? An ode to both literature and neuroscience, this novel tackles timeless themes of ambition, power, and fraught familial bonds with a cerebral twist. Dr. Pauzauskie’s thought-provoking debut is King Lear for the modern era.
You’ll love Stage of Fools if you enjoyed these books:
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
- Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn
- Fool by Christopher Moore
- We That Are Young by Preti Taneja
Bookstr’s Stage of Fools Dream Cast:
- Jeff Goldblum as Steven Levinson, a billionaire business mogul
- Tyler James Williams as Thomas Mariner, Steven’s protégé
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Carmelia Levinson, Steven’s wife
- Kat Dennings as Genevieve Brouwer, Steven’s eldest daughter
- Alison Brie as Regina Reagan, Steven’s middle daughter
- Emmy Rossum as Coraline Levinson, Steven’s youngest daughter
- Logan Lerman as Danny Levinson, Steven’s son
If you want to add Stage of Fools to your TBR, you can preorder it on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon. Thank you to High Frequency Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To read our feature on Isabel Vincent and Thomas Jason Anderson’s illuminating true crime investigation, Gold Bar Bob, click here!
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