Josef Frank

Birdcage Josef Frank

In the throes of a grueling and relentlessly absurd military career, a newly sober Second Lieutenant Matthew Gelion suffers an intense episode of suicidal ideation. Shaken and bewildered, Matthews checks himself into the psych ward of an Army hospital, to the chagrin of his commanders. There, he meets and makes friends with two other patients struggling with sobriety: Simone and Leon. They form a support network that people suffering from suicidal thoughts desperately need, and name themselves the Birdwatchers. Together, they begin the arduous journey to personal recovery and redemption. The journey is fraught with obstacles in the form of inept Alcoholic Anonymous sponsors, burnt-out mental health professionals, megalomaniacal superior officers, and a cruel nurse named Gourd. Matthew, alongside Simone and Leon, fights mightily to reclaim his position as captain of his soul, using any and all means at his disposal to grapple with his demons. The story features a series of disjointed yet interconnected vignettes told from the perspectives of several characters that reveal the dizzying complexity of the realities surrounding mental health and the rising suicide rate in America. It implores readers to strip away the stigma regarding these conversations, to delve into them with understanding, and to remember that even at their most vulnerable moments, they never have to navigate these times alone.