Mesolimbic Press

The American Cure

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HAPPINESS IS NO LONGER A CHOICE; IT’S A PRESCRIPTION.America has disintegrated. The south lies scarred by a radiological catastrophe; foreign governance administers what remains in the north. Within this degenerate autocracy, memories of a great past are repressed, and the future is biomedically engineered.In the wreckage of a dystopian Detroit, Aria struggles to finish her doctoral thesis on the neurochemical basis of pleasure. But her research isn’t just academic – she self-medicates to suppress intense antisocial tendencies born of a troubled past.Her only solace is the music of the subnation’s most pathologically morbid rock star. But when her idol, Thane, undergoes a radical neurosurgical cure, his transformation spurs a cultural whiplash. Then, a disastrous flaw found in her research sends her reeling. While a wave of hyper-gleeful teens invades the pop milieu, Aria goes off her meds and her carefully calibrated balance shatters.Amidst the revolt of melancholic hipsters and a shadowy surrogate government implementing a final solution—one that threatens to minimize free will in all who remain stranded in this sad new world—Aria must decide: will she submit to society’s imposed prescription, or will she accept herself for who she truly is—violent impulses and all?The American Cure is a strange, darkly humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of autonomy, identity, and the perilous pursuit of wellbeing

About the author:Donn Andrew Simmons holds a PhD in Neuroscience and Animal Behavior from Emory University, with a foundational background in biology, psychology, and chemistry from West Virginia University. After a postdoctoral fellowship investigating behavioral neurophysiology at the UCSF Department of Neurosurgery, he began bridging the gap between hard science and narrative exploration. A member of the Screen Actors Guild since 2006, he brings a unique dual perspective to fiction—merging the cold precision of the lab with the emotional depth of the stage. Originally from West Virginia, he now lives and writes in San Francisco, exploring the intersection of the brain, the soul, and the stories we tell. Away from the workstation, he enjoys exploring foreign cities on foot and munching strange snacks en route.