BY THE SEA, BY THE SEA

by George Sumner Albee ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 1960

Plankton, established as a Redemption colony, loses most if its inhabitants when the anti-sexual edicts of the religious group have their final effect, depriving the seaside paradise of progeny. And the new Plankton is a sorry postscript to the original, dedicated as it is to easy and ""natural"" living. Into the town comes Myrthis, a six-foot tall, one hundred and thirty pound entomologist, the albatross of middle-aged Bonesetter, a practical middle-aged man who lives contentedly with his wife and mistress, an intellectual ex-stripteaser. With the advent of Myrthis into Plankton, Bonesetter knows no peace, so convinced is he that the vague young man will destroy himself on one of his excursions out into the freezing ocean where an impulse to play with the seals has led him. The community finally succeeds in marrying Myrthis off to a young illiterate with a bashed in face and a slightly tarnished reputation. Realizing that the young couple will soon either die of excessive sexual indulgence or starvation, they launch them into the newspaper business. Myrthis's idea of ""hot"" news is coy little articles about the love habits of dragonflies, a motion which suddenly brings him to the attention of New York Publishers and TV producers. In him they believe they have found if not Archie, then surely Mchitabel. And so, by being his own incorrigible self, Myrthis attains fortune and fame. A zany, inventive, and only occasionally funny book. Not for the morally sqeamish.

Pub Date: May 4, 1960

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1960

Categories: FICTION