Three Christs of Ypsilanti

Too intriguing, too fantastic, and all too human, Three Christs of Ypsilanti is a case study stemming from a 1960s psychology experiment that brought together three schizophrenia patients who believed themselves to be Christ. Although much of the text recounts the incoherent ramblings of madmen, there is at the heart of the book a piercing question of identity asking how and why we construct our own notions of ourselves.


With its keenness for emotional details and Rokeach's surprising literary sensibilities, Three Christs reads less like a scientific case study (which it is) and more like a literary account of insanity (that of the three Christs) and folly (that of Rokeach). Beyond this rather unethical and questionable experiment comes a resounding declaration of humanity in all its rationality and madness.