THE ASTONISHING STEREOSCOPE

Reared in the intellectual atmosphere of Concord, Massachusetts by two parents seeped in the abstractions of transcendentalism, it's no wonder that Eleanor turns to the sepia-tinted fantasy world of the stereoscope (a present from her Hindu uncle Prince Krishna) for answers to her questions about guilt, redemption and the nature of the hereafter. Her stereoscopic journeys are historically eclectic, taking her to a primitive human sacrifice (unconsummated), a Gothic cathedral and a visit with a puritan ancestor, but the message is theologically specific with the trail of religious evolution leading right back home to Uncle Freddy's Yankee morality. Though skeptics will remain unconvinced by the final bit of family faith healing which absolves Eleanor's guilt over having caused injury to a friend, it's a mind-bending experience to follow her through the fast-paced revelations of her magic lantern catechism.