A review by whorriorr
City of Truth by James Morrow

4.0

This was a very short and simple, yet fresh and powerful tale. It is a satirical look at a dystopian society- but instead of being focused around taking down some sort of unjust government, the novel decides to explore something much darker. This novel centers around a average man- Jack Sperry, who lives in a city where no one lies. Everyone is conditioned by torture to feel physically ill every time they don't tell the truth- or the whole truth. This leads to some pretty comical advertisements such as the Honda Adequate, or eating "murdered cow" instead of hamburgers. Anyway, comfortable in his life Sperry is shocked when he learns his son has a fatal disease. This leads to a desperate attempt to cure what he is told cannot be cured- by the power of mind over matter. Sperry believes that if he can learn to lie, he can trick his son into going into remission by the power of positive thinking. Short story short its a very quick interesting read. It highlights both the benefit of lies... and the benefit of finally telling the truth.

A fathers love can be powerful so I hear... Happy Father's Day!