A novella.
In Veritas, the City of Truth, people have been brutally conditioned to always tell the truth, no matter how unnerving (or droll) the truth may be. It will come as no surprise, then, that elevators in Veritas carry the notice THIS ELEVATOR MAINTAINED BY PEOPLE WHO HATE THEIR JOBS. RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Or that cigarette packs say WARNING: THE SURGEON GENERAL'S CRUSADE AGAINST THIS PRODUCT MAY DISTRACT YOU FROM THE MYRIAD WAYS YOUR GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROTECT YOUR HEALTH.
Jack Sperry leads a rather routine life as a "deconstructionist," destroying "mendacious" old works of art, until his beloved son, Toby, is bitten by a rabbit at Camp Ditch-the-Kids and contracts a rare disease. Jack must now somehow learn to lie if, as he believes, only falsehoods can give Toby enough hope to effect a cure.
James Morrow (born 1947) is a fiction author. A self-described "scientific humanist", his work satirises organized religion and elements of humanism and atheism. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife, Kathryn Smith Morrow, his son, Christopher, and their dogs. His cousin is the journalist Lance Morrow.
