Book Description
When Robert Contreras attempts to enlist in World War II, his medical exam reveals he has tuberculosis and he is committed to a frightful sanatorium. Amid his relapses and recoveries he meets a series of women who have an effect on his life: a mysterious French doctor, another patient, a sinister acquaintance from a Los Angeles barrio. Meanwhile, the hospital newsletter describes how tuberculosis patients have been treated throughout history, often alienated and administered bizarre treatments. The author equates these to modern medical experimentation and the superstitious pagan practices of witchcraft and satanism of the California barrios. Based on a true story of the author's uncle.