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The Lunatic

Anthony C. Winkler

“…The author never relaxes his hilarious examination of the island’s taboos… By far the funniest book I’ve read in a decade, although its ribald atmosphere is sprayed with the pepper-gas of aggressive social satire.”
Bob Shacochis, Washington Post Book World

Aloysius is the village madman, tolerated by neighbours but forced to eke out a living by doing odd jobs while he uses the hospitable woodlands for shelter. He is starved of human companionship; instead he has running conversations with trees and plants. Then love, or a peculiar version of it, comes to Aloysius in the form of a solidly built German lady who has come to Jamaica to photograph the flora and fauna. Her name is Inga Schmidt.  For Inga, this madman is a revelation. Lunatic or not, Aloysius is capable of satisfying Inga's libido as frequently as she desires. But the romantic idyll is bruised when Inga invites a local butcher to join a ménage a trios, and shattered when the trio decides to burgle the house of Busha McIntosh…

About the author
Anthony C. Winkler was born in Jamaica, and was educated in Jamaica and America. His first novel, The Painted Canoe, was published in Jamaica in 1984. The Lunatic followed in 1987, and Winkler also wrote the screenplay for a highly successful film of this novel.

Other works include The Great Yacht Race (1992), Going Home to Teach (1995) and The Duppy (1997). In 1999 his original screenplay The Annihilation of Fish, was filmed in Los Angeles. Starring opposite James Earl Jones with Margot Kidder, Lynn Redgrave won Palm Beach Best Actress for her role as Poinsettia. He resides with his wife, Cathy, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.