ABSTRACT
Introductory Note: Readers will no doubt take the following narrative to be a work of fiction, a “short story.” As such, its appearance in a serious sociological publication will be regarded as controversial, to say the least. In fact, though, the text represents a true account, as told to me by Professor ______, a wellknown sociologist. He recorded this story when I interviewed him at the beginning of 1978 in the ______ Psychiatric Hospital, where he had then spent two years. The interview was conducted as part of the ongoing Social Science Research Council-funded project on “Personal Identity and the Life-Cycle in the Seventies.” The transcript was only slightly edited by me, mainly to remove some embarrassing personal references, and the text was then revised by Professor ______ himself, in accordance with the reverse feedback life history method. The final style – including the rather erratic grammar – was his own choice.
