NOT ALL OF YOUR LAUGHTER, NOT ALL OF YOUR TEARS

Television comedian, non-fiction and short story writer Steve Allen has written his first novel, a novel concerned with marital infidelity, divorce and the Catholic Church. The ""hero"" is Dan Seanton, tortured husband and father. He, his wife and ""the other woman"" move from Hollywood to Manhattan to Westport, with Dan measuring ethics, religion and family loyalty and the meaning of love every step of the way. A philosopher of sorts- and Dan's song writing partner attempt to discuss with him the moral and religious position of his unhappy triangle, but Dan continually arrives at the conclusion that he only has ""the choice of one of several mistakes"". He seems to make not one but all, however, precipitating divorces, the loss of his girl friend, and an automobile accident that takes the lives of two people and very nearly his own. The story, despite its potentials in the descriptions of nature and of city life, in the small scale everyday impressions which are pointed and often poetic, somehow trails away in a vague cloud of question marks. The introverted hero fades into the California smog. The style is simple, almost bland, and the dialogue an endless tape recording that does little to advance the story. The basically tragic situation soon loses its tragic implications.