"Sean Pauzauskie is from that great tradition of doctors who also excel in literature. As with Walker Percy, another example, we get in Pauzauskie's Stage of Fools the tragicomedies of the flesh as well as the acutely sketched-out questions about the mind and the soul. Sean Pauzauskie is a very promising novelist, with a big heart and unique angle, as shown in this uniquely rewarding new work."

Rick Moody, Author of The Ice Storm and Hotels of North America

"Stage of Fools offers an innovative, compelling appropriation and repurposing of Shakespeare's King Lear. But the principal character lies comatose in a San Francisco hospital, able to hear, think, and feel. Recollection and disintegration drive a bold family narrative toward a riveting conclusion and epiphany. Pauzauskie, by creating multi-faceted characters, skillfully refashions the story of an old king into a modern-day enriched parable of hope, suffering, and loss."

David Bergeron, Author of The Duke of Lennox

"Sean Pauzauskie's Stage of Fools is not just a medical thriller and murder mystery, it's also an inventive and provocative mediation on the beauty of human consciousness. Narrated by the unforgettable Steve Levinson, this novel is compelling, smart, and wildly entertaining."

Lewis Robinson, Author of Waterdogs

"A wild ride into the far reaches of inner space, where the chaos of the mind competes with the messes of the world, all unfolding under the deft hand of Pauzauskie and his literary, intellectual, medical, and historical expertise. As madness and reason collide, the novel reverberates with the lament of King Lear-"O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!"-as it explores the boundaries of consciousness and sanity in an unraveling world. Fasten your seatbelts!"

Brett Shapiro, Author of L'Intruso