The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether

A traveler visiting a French asylum discovers that the inmates, not the staff, appear to be running the institution, and that the director has implemented a remarkable new system of management. Edgar Allan Poe's 1844 dark comedy is one of his more overtly satirical works, using the asylum setting to question how confidently any of us can distinguish reason from madness or order from chaos, particularly when authority figures are invested in maintaining the appearance of both.

John MacDonald and Ghizela Rowe bring a theatrical quality to the short story that suits its Gothic comedy. The dual narration captures the story's layered ironies, and the audio format serves the tale well: Poe's prose benefits from being heard at the register he designed for the voice. The runtime, though brief, is sufficient for a story built around a single escalating revelation.