Arthur D. Robbins is a psychologist with a practice on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He holds a bachelors in English from Queens College, a doctorate in psychology from New School University and a doctorate in French and Romance Philology from Columbia University, where he specialized in 18thcentury political thought. From Voltaire he learned that humor and politics can be brought together in a work of fiction.

Dr. Robbins began writing fiction and poetry during his years at Stuyvesant High School. He has been writing fiction ever since. In college he was on the editorial staff of the New York University literary magazine, The Apprentice. His articles on French literature and psychopathology have appeared in scholarly journals. This is his first novel.

Although given to levity, Dr. Robbins is dead serious on the subject of democracy. He believes that without an active, informed and vigilant citizenry, the quality of our lives as free subjects in an open society could become eroded. "Americans have become complacent," he said. "They have settled for a life of getting and spending which they claim to enjoy. Yet they are anxious about the future and fearful of losing what they have. They have lost their identity as political beings. It is within their power to fix what is wrong with the world. All that is lacking is the will and a collective vision."

In his spare time Dr. Robbins enjoys playing Bach on the cello and studying painting at the Art Students League. He once made a violin from scratch, one of his proudest accomplishments. He is divorced with two grown children.