THE GREATEST BREAKTHROUGH SINCE LUNCHTIME

by Colin Douglas ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 1979

Dr. Douglas' The Houseman's Tale took Dr. David Campbell through the Scots equivalent of American intern/residency--with a sprinkling of clark wit and light desperation. Now Campbell is splitting his time between seeing hospital patients and doing the grubwork in a dubious research project (something to do with ""faecal proteins"" or ""faecal vitamins,"" depending on who's funding it this week)--and there are fewer laughs to temper the edgy, bitter satire. Among the patients (all female) are a woman who's having a vividly messy time with amoebiasis, a cirrhosis case that dies on the table (""a highly speculative operation at the hands of a surgeon of proverbial unpredictability""), and a mongoloid child who is used as a guinea pig for a wonder drug. . . that kills. And, as before, David halfheartedly runs the sensual gauntlet--an old girlfriend, a weepy technician who tosses out his research while ""cleaning up,"" a married colleague, and a busty researcher who's heavy into the use of bits of diseased organs as love tokens. Not as consistently engaging as the first volume, but equally loose, quick, and vaguely likable.

Pub Date: March 7, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Taplinger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION