Myth and Madness

My novel, "Myth and Madness" explores the root causes of the "revolution of dignity" that took place on the Maidan (Independence Square)  in Kyiv, Ukraine during the winter of 2013/2014, and which culminated in the sniper deaths of over 100 protestors. My novel uses the devices of magical realism and a "story within a story," in which a Ukrainian fairy tale, told by the protagonist, illuminates the political events on the Maidan.  Nick Telesyk, a doctoral student of Ukrainian folklore, is recruited to investigate high-profile political corruption. He is  incarcerated in a "psikhushka" as a political dissident—and soon, he becomes the subject of a prison psychiatrist who is fascinated by his “philosophical intoxication” and his intense interest in fairy tales. Dr. Natalka Slovyanka is a beautiful young psychiatrist and a woman with her own dark secrets and difficult past. Natalka convinces Nick to share his fairy tales during group therapy in an attempt to engage the other patients. But Nick’s rich inner life soon draws Natalka in on a personal level, taking her deep into his mythical worlds even as their nation charts its future by discovering its past. Nick’s vivid imagination and his tendency to retreat to his unconscious mind is a double-edged sword. While Nick’s fairy tales act as a practical coping mechanism for dealing with imprisonment, retreating into his imagination isolates him from others, cuts him off from reality, and keeps him from actualizing a soul-deep relationship with Natalka. To love each other, the couple must both escape their prisons—but which will be more difficult: escaping from the oppression of government paranoia or escaping the prisons of the mind? Daniel Hryhorczuk is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his BA in English (creative writing) from Northwestern University where his short story “The Ice Cross” won first place in the Orgy of the Arts. He received his MD from the University of Illinois. His first novel, Caught in the Current, revisited the world of his youth -- ethnic America and offbeat Europe during the psychedelic sixties. The Midwest Book Review described it as “one amazing read and decidedly establishes Daniel Hryhorczuk as a talented author of wit, imagination, and a fundamentally gifted storyteller.” His second novel, Myth and Madness, explores Ukraine’s “revolution of dignity” during the winter of 2013/14. He has received commendations from the City of Chicago, the White House, and the Ukrainian government for his work on social and health issues in Ukraine. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, Christine, and his sons Nicholas and Alex.