Chapter 13 Summary

Valhalla Hospital in Albemarle County, VA, is a grand hotel turned into a "Freudian factory" for rich people. Pipe-smoking, aristocratic Dr. Warner Masterson leads Kay to his office to tell about Al as a boy being admitted depressed and unresponsive after a fight with his father and a "suicidal gesture." Al is an intense young man who believes himself clairvoyant and telepathic under stress. He is intuitive but confuses it with a priori knowledge. Around others he is like water taking the shape of whatever it fills. Al does well as an ER nurse but could not have functioned in psychology. His father is abusive, as are those of many homosexual males. Al is too insecure for any intimate relationships. Al comes out of his shell when the therapist has him argue with his father in an empty chair—and then plays...