Although this story is presented as fiction, the premise is ridiculous and ugly.

Ever since he made Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, famous in his memoirs, the brilliant Victorian surgeon Frederick Treves has been viewed through changing perspectives. Treves, who always referred to Merrick as "John" (but knew he was really "Joseph") presented himself as the savior of the deformed, "wretched creature" to use the language of his time. He portrayed the Elephant Man as a noble savage, a popular image of the 19th century. In delicately veiled language he mentioned Merrick's "amorous" nature, giving future playwrights and novelists plenty of grist for their mills. His writing has remained the main source of works about the Elephant Man.

Treves has not fared well in modern eyes. His good intentions have been twisted into rigid Victorian morals in the Pomerance play, "The Elephant Man", where his terror of Merrick's sexuality drives him into depths of depression and loss of self. In "Joseph Merrick, " the opera by Laurent Petigirard, which at least gets Merrick's name right, Treves continues his downward spiral, until our modern-day image is of a cold-blooded scientist who exploited an innocent soul for his own advancement, even warping him and stuffing him into elegant three-piece suits to entertain high society.

In "Joseph," this so-called "fairy tale," Tom Baker goes one further and imagines Treves as Jack the Ripper. Treves might have been handy with a scalpel but it's patently ridiculous, even slanderous, to use him to this fictional end. Doctors can be killers, but I highly doubt that this
reasonably nice man, who ended up as personal physician to Edward VII and was knighted for his contributions to medicine, could have been homicidal in anyone's wildest dreams.

If anything, this story exploits Treves, who really doesn't deserve such a bum rap. Merrick is treated fairly well, and even appears in a beautifully imagined scene as the handsome, forgiving young man he would be in the afterlife, free of his terrible deformities at last. But largely I think this book is a waste of time and intellect. Read it if you like gore and things that go bump in the night. Otherwise, pass it by.


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"Every artist is a cannibal. Every poet is a thief.

All kill their inspiration and sing about the grief."

-"The Fly" by U2

Occasionally, in history, there comes a time when new creations and ideas lose their flavor and fade away. Forgotten. New concepts come along and almost rub out the old ones. Almost. There are some that remember.

"Joseph" is a tale that author Tom Baker has composed to revive the black and white memories of The Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper.

The interesting twist is that Mr. Baker weaves himself into the story at a particular point and critiques what may well be the flaws or weak points up until then. This pulls the strings tight and strengthens the rest of the narratives.

It jumps around a bit, making it a little hard to follow at times. There is an explanation for this, but it is anticlimactic.

Nevertheless,for those who remember the non-fiction classics, "Joseph" is more than a pleasant walk down memory lane. It's an old dog with a few new tricks.

For those who don't...it's about bein' ugly and killin' whores.

Jason Leonard