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SHADOW CATCHER

Deftly written account of a 1913 cross-country expedition to record the surviving members of Indian tribes and offer them citizenship, after which they were conveniently to fade forever into the sunset. In his novel, in which some of the characters are real, Fergus takes for his text the Rodman Wanamaker expedition. Wanamaker, the department store nabob, has conceived of a colossal Indian, dwarfing the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor and housing pictures and mementos of the great tribes pledging allegiance. A collecting expedition leaves via Wanamaker's private railroad car, carrying, among others, Dixon—a shady ecclesiastic who has toadied favor with Wanamaker—and Fry, the ``shadow catcher'' who wears a concealed camera under his clothes. The expedition proceeds from triumph to triumph: in Mescalero, an Apache attempts to knife Fry; in Pueblo, the Indians refuse to sign the Declaration of Allegiance unless they get something better than a piece of paper from it; Kickapoos reply to Dixon's stirring oratory (``...this bold new century! ...this stirring modern age!'') with jeers, finally flinging their cigarettes on the stand, saying, ``Bullshit!'' and departing. Along the way, Buffalo Bill Cody turns up: he's starring in a movie shoot with real Indians. Only problem is, he's so drunk he keeps passing out in the saddle. From the wings of a subplot appears Annie Owns the Fire. In the last 40 pages, Miss Owns the Fire (boy, does she ever) is raped, takes her revenge, falls in love with Fry, splits, then ``tracks'' Fry down and they are promptly united in everlasting bliss. Despite this last contrivance, Fergus compellingly evokes the twilight of the Indian and the Old West, with the tribes' attending train of vultures. Readers who usually skip history as too dry will enjoy this. (Thirty-two historic photographs.)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 1991

ISBN: 0-939149-55-9

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Soho

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1991

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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