“A man’s mind is a tricky thing, Blake.” So says Dr. Adams to hotshot director, Jake Blake. But those aren’t the words of caution during a routine check-up. They’re spoken as a grim reminder from within the walls of an asylum. And spoken to a man whose memory has all but vanished just like his best days that are far behind him. Thus begins the madness, cynicism, and disillusionment that runs rampant throughout Charles Willeford’s pocket pulp classic, The Machine in Ward Eleven. Fashioned from six jarring but candid stories, this collection spells out the matter-of-fact brutality of a society that’s too coolly calculated in its deposal of the individual and the human spirit.

“A Letter to A. A. (Almost Anybody)” follows a man struggling with alcoholism who finds the strength to hop back onto the wagon, only to have someone else ready to pounce and pilfer at sobriety’s expense. “Jake’s Journal” features a despondent airman who’s restationed to a desolate island after partaking in unbecoming activities. When his ticket to ride off those barren shores arrives, it’s the kind of freedom that will leave his prospects a little too “up in the air.” Other stories such as “Selected Incidents,” “Just Like on Television—” and “The Machine in Ward 11,” serve as an indictment of the Hollywood scene for its unforgiving attitude toward its own kind and its harmful influence on the public at large. These stories feature characters dealing with the loss of talent over humanity, where madness is elevated to normalcy.