There's no cure for boredom in this self-conscious little novel that draws on Anthony Burgess and old sci-fi comics in a...

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A CURE FOR CANCER

There's no cure for boredom in this self-conscious little novel that draws on Anthony Burgess and old sci-fi comics in a vain attempt to lend hipness to agent Jerry Cornelius' search for the time altering machine (he lost it in the Shift, which you get into by the Web) which can give his aunt-sisterniece-lover Catherine a few more days of life. Liveried coachmen exist side-by-side with vibraguns and cars that are also planes and subs; people (including Jerry), die only to reappear (too bad) in this world that makes no sense (not that we care); and there are lots of U.S. ""advisers"" in Europe to protect it from being annexed by the Israelis (social satire). The author wraps the reader about the novel's ""unconventional structure"" by which he presumably means the short chapters and interpolated articles and chapter titles from rags like Scientific American, The Village Voice, and Titbits unfortunately he doesn't use his time machine to bring this piece of pop art (""a cool surface"") slickness back in date.

Pub Date: Sept. 27, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971

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