THE FAR FACE OF THE MOON

by George Johnston ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 28, 1964

Kubla Khan country, on the way to Xanadu, but Zone Q-4, a ""point of logistics"" is no pleasure-dome for the American unit stationed there. Attached to it is Jake Strickland, a civilian liaison officer, who tells this story with a handsome profile of despair and a certain stiffening of his British underlip. Strickland is something of a burnt-out case, trying to forget the past (a marriage which ended in his own impotence and his accidental (?) killing of his wife). Another one is Jane Carson, an effulgently glamorous film star who is sent to Zone-Q-4 with another actor and a U.S. Senator, on a morale boosting mission, just as a monsoon breaks. Their enforced stay is just as unsettling as the oppressive rains; there are casualties up in the air and also on the ground (Jane's); but although she is able to prove herself, by finally falling in love-- with Strickland, she is unable to salvage him.... An external story handled with a certain professional poise, but it is not to be taken too seriously. Once the heavy emotional weather lifts, it has only served as a canopy for some high-colored romance and a spot of sex.

Pub Date: April 28, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION