Love in the Ruins and The Thanatos Syndrome

Two dystopian satirical novels by Walker Percy, author of The Moviegoer and winner of the National Book Award. Both feature Dr. Thomas More, a flawed psychiatrist and spiritual seeker navigating America's future. In Love in the Ruins, the American experiment has failed and the nation faces catastrophe. Dr. More has invented the lapsometer, a machine designed to diagnose and cure the country's spiritual ailments—anxiety, depression, alienation, and racism. However, the device could cause chaos if misused. The novel explores whether an alcoholic, womanizing, lapsed-Catholic psychiatrist can save a collapsing society. In The Thanatos Syndrome, the sequel set in Louisiana, Dr. More is released from prison after selling amphetamines to truck drivers. He returns home intending to live simply, but discovers townspeople behaving strangely—losing sexual inhibitions and speaking in truncated sentences. With his cousin Lucy Lipscomb, an epidemiologist, More investigates and uncovers a government conspiracy designed to strip citizens of their autonomy, free will, and humanity.