portrays a boy’s childhood in late nineteen-twenties and thirties Lowell. The boy, Jacky Duluoz, roams Lowell’s streets, encountering imaginary adversaries: Doctor Sax, a criminal alchemist, the vampiric Count Condu and other figures drawn from myth, cartoon and fantasy. These encounters lead Jacky into a series of nightmare adventures. Initially, he regards Sax with a mixture of dread and fascination, but, progressively, he comes to identify him as an ally, assisting him in the tracking-down of a far more potent and dangerous phantom-enemy, a giant snake. The narrative climaxes in a confrontation with this evil snake, in front of which they are powerless. But an ambiguous victory is delivered by a large bird, which swoops down from the sky and bears the snake away.
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Citation: Ellis, R. J.. "Doctor Sax". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5543, accessed 23 November 2024.]
