Stares

Prize-winning British poet Fuller's ( With My Little Eye ) first novel in 20 years is boringly belletristic. Narrator Bill Toyne, a successful actor, finds himself at Stares, a private psychiatric facility, after his lover Sammy's death has induced a breakdown. Recovering through no explicitly described therapies, Bill spends his days receiving unsolicited confessions from his fellow patients, all of whom unburden themselves as if by rote. With few exceptions, these supposedly fragile characters seem peculiarly able to contain their sufferings, and the etiology of their distress almost invariably boils down to the same thing: bereavement. Bill also expends energy in quoting dramatic passages, contemplating his plans to stage a reading of Chekhov's The Seagull at Stares and discussing the play with his fellow patients. Much of the narrative revolves around how the various roles affect members of his cast, but the references, however frequent, fail to illuminate the play sufficiently and readers lacking a good working knowledge of The Seagull will be left adrift. (June)