Mockingbird

by Walter Tevis

  ISBN 0-385-14933-6

"Because of its affirmation of such persistent human values as curiosity, courage, and compassion, along with its undeniable narrative power, Mockingbird will become one of those books that coming generations will periodically rediscover with wonder and delight."--The Washington Post

In the distant future, Burger Chef serves algaeburgers.  Humans have forgotten how to read and spend their days in a narcotic stupor escaping the challenges of daily life.  For many, drugs aren't enough and suicide is a common, and often public, occurrence.  At the Burger Chef on Fifth Avenue in New York, Professor Bentley witnesses the self-immolation of three older women sitting in a booth.  Haunted by what he's seen, Bentley records his thoughts to share with Spofforth, a brooding robot and Dean of Faculties at New York University.

You can hear an interview with Walter Tevis where he discusses the circumstances surrounding the writing of Mockingbird at Wired for Books.  The interview was recorded shortly before his death in 1984.

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