Fate’s Janitors, a first novel by psychotherapist, Keith Wilson, seeks to do for the mental health system what The House of God did for medicine and Catch-22 did for the military. It displays it as a charade; a swarm of bunglers, toiling to a cloudy purpose, under inane superiors.
We meet a perennial student, who must complete a counseling internship. His supervisor, a recovering addict, and former outlaw biker, is less than thrilled about having an intern tagging along. The clinic is treated like an ignored appendage to the medical center, which in turn has been taken over by a giant corporation. The renowned psychologist, Dr Ahern, is appointed director, but when the great man at last makes an appearance, he delivers outlandish orders to the staff and bribes them to lie to insurance companies, deceive regulators, and bamboozle auditors. Then there are the patients, who are the sane ones in this hilarious satire.
