....Within the Rat/// begins with three kids in a tent in a backyard at night. One of them suggests they venture out into the “dark forest” to find and kill the fabled Mud-crud, a ferocious, man-eating beast. They step into the darkness; into an imaginary world. The reader may assume that these kids will carry us through this journey and then return to the “real” world, transformed, as in many coming-of-age stories. But the kids quickly fade into the background, and a rat informs us that we are within the first chapter of a book he’s writing. The anchor of reason is pulled up...

This is a journey within - within the subconscious; within memories, family histories, dreams and mental landscapes. We encounter a maiden who turns into a mermaid, a mother who becomes a horse, a mourner who collects tears, and other manifestations of alcoholism, codependency, sexual promiscuity, anxiety and depression.