Books & Poetry

‘The Amnesia Clinic’ tells the tale of Anti and Fabian, two

pubescent boys growing up in early-’90s Quito, Ecuador. Echoing

Salinger and Twain, the pair go on the trail of Fabian’s mother –

missing, presumed dead – to the fictional ‘amnesia clinic’ where they

imagine finding her. Along the way they experience the traditional

teenage runaways’ rites of passage: cannabis, predatory women,

bullfights, guinea-pig suppers and more than a little trouble. This

part of the book shows Scudamore at his best, evoking the dynamics of a

boyhood friendship with humour and sincerity. However, there’s a lot

more going on here than a fictional memoir of an exotic youth. The idea

of storytelling itself is probed and played with, the lines between

fantasy and reality, folklore and fact blurred to the point where we

don’t know who or what to trust.

In the end, the simplicity and

charm of the friendship at the book’s core is shattered. In some ways

this unravels the thread of the story, which subsequently becomes wild

and a touch implausible. Suspend your disbelief, though, and ‘The

Amnesia Clinic’ is a nostalgic, compelling adventure laced with black

humour.