Thomas M. Disch. Camp Concentration. Garden City: Doubleday, 1969.
Camp Concentration is a savage satire of American conformity, with allusions to Faust, Aquinas, and alchemy. Imprisoned as a conscientious objector, poet Louis Sacchetti is soon transferred to a medical experimentation center where he is injected with Pallidine, a drug that increases human intelligence but invariably causes death from syphilis. Sacchetti experiences intellectual ecstasy, even while he sees that he and his fellow prisoners are being used by their wardens. A concise, brilliant novel.
No. 39.