Absent Ventriloquist

The horrors of the asylum are, unfortunately, memories from not so long ago. It was just in the early 1960s that Deinstitutionalisation had begun, and patients were turned lose into the streets. Photos show the warped perspective of the mentally ill. Short stories toss the reader into the strangeness of voices that exist only in our heads. Poetry dims the light of hope in the mind, that which comes after years without care. Absent Ventriloquist is a collection that forces us to examine mental health and learn to insure history does not repeat itself. This collection features photos by photographer Bryan Thompson of Graffiti Photographic, model Little Alice at the Che Correa Photography Studio in Appleton, WI. Short stories and poems written by Little Alice dregs up the darkness of the forgotten world of the asylum.