THE MONKEY WATCHER

If we could just be like the monkeys and take what comes... (with no) moral estures, ""perhaps we could also take Mr. Towers' novel which is gratuitously graphic and also reduces literature to the level of the lavatory where a good many scenes take place. Here, or in the ""sour glandular stink"" of the monkey house at the zoo where Arthur Brubeck, whose wife Olivia is dying of cancer, spends a great deal of time as a fascinated spectator of the anal and erotic activities of the primates. While Olivia astes away from week to week, Arthur's libidinous inclinations find a healthy renewal and focus in Mary, his secretary. Arthur leaves Olivia's bedside for Mary's bed in a qualid Village apartment. Arthur is not around when Olivia breathes her last, but then many readers will not be on hand either.