SOURCE: "From Canada: A Portentous, Symbol-laden Tale of Forgetting and Identity," in Chicago Tribune—Books, April 3, 1994, pp. 3, 9.

[In the following, which is a revised version, submitted by the critic, of a review that originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Whitehouse remarks on Amnesia's intricate structure and Cooper's use of myriad symbols and images to discuss human consciousness.]

As Canadian writer Douglas Cooper's first novel Amnesia begins, the nameless narrator, an archival librarian in Toronto, is surprised by a visitor to his office on the morning he is to be married. The visitor, disreputably dressed and carelessly groomed, introduces himself as Izzy Darlow, and proceeds to tell the story of his life, his troubled family, and his many crimes. Izzy alternates his life story with the story of a mentally disturbed young woman named Katie.

As the narrator listens to Izzy's confession, he realizes that he will never marry...