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MEDUSA'S GIFT

Name: MEDUSA'S GIFT
Author: Lois Gould
ISBN: 0-394-58229-2

by Lois Gould ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1991

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Another sophisticated puzzler from Gould (Subject to Change, 1988, etc.) that uses ambiguous—though always rich—language and fragments of popular culture to toy with readers in a perversely pleasing way. Gould's subject now is fame, embodied in Magdalene—a Madonna-as-Marilyn superstar come to the island of Medusa to die, separate herself from her public persona, or tell her life story, complete with details on her liaison with a president. Disembarked at Rob Twist's American Bar, she goes for a swim, only to be stung by the strange beast that haunts waters around the island. On shore, a handful of men and women—all of them cannibalizers of the famous—are ready to sting her too, including Dr. Grace Craven, who's made the trip to Medusa to gather information for a Magdalene biography and land the Magdalene collection of memorabilia for her lover, a museum director named S.Z. Hroch. As with so many celebrities, Magdalene proves to be privately needy, which is why she enters into a sexual relationship with Grace. But who's using who? It's difficult to say, especially when Grace becomes utterly submerged in her subject, and then gets cheated out of the prize Magdalene memento—a case full of vials containing famous men's sperm (``a bloody great Swiss bank of world-class ejaculate''). Worse, Grace learns that Hroch doesn't want the treasure trove unless Magdalene dies, which she seems to at the end of this hermetic little novel. Or has she just gone into hiding, to reappear like some phoenix 20 years hence? Curious twists, lurking symbols, and meaning within meaning are Gould's stock and trade. But what she's up to here—other than a freewheeling discussion of fame and a long drink of thick text—is anyone's guess.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991

ISBN: 0-394-58229-2

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1991

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
MOMMY DRESSING
by Lois Gould

- BOOK REVIEW
NO BRAKES
by Lois Gould

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.

Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60737-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

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JURASSIC PARK

by Michael Crichton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 1990

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Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.