The master of sweet dreams - Andrew Ivortow

The Master of Sweet Dreams is a collection of short stories inspired by scientists and by life in research laboratories.Andrew Ivortow is a laboratory-dweller. He has spent most of his life wandering through the cluttered rooms of ivory towers, making knowledge and also observing his colleagues. His book is about the life, death and afterlife of scientists. It looks at the drives, ambitions and pains that shape a scientist's existence.True scientists mainly live in laboratories (even if they sleep and spend weekends somewhere else) but the world outside has a tendency to intrude and disturb their minds. The overlaps of the laboratory and the outside world in a scientist's head can produce rather peculiar interferences and resonances. Some of the fairy tales - for example Physiological Restaurant, Master of Sweet Dreams, and Experiment in evil are reflections of these interactions. The rest of the fairy tales resulted from the author's instinctive inclination to classify and categorise everything (including himself and his peers). The book is beautifully illustrated by John Gavin.