THE COLOR OF LIGHT

by William Goldman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 1984

Goldman, a first-class entertainer (Marathon Man, Magic), used to write slick, earnest, oddly false psychological novels; and this new book, about the ups and downs of young writer ""Chub"" Fuller, is an uneven return to that earlier style. In the novel's first third, Chub is an undergrad at Oberlin--discovering how to turn his troubled past (alcoholic father, unstable mother) into short stories, finding a mentor in crippled, flamboyantly brilliant classmate ""Two-Brew"" Kitchel. And since Two Brew's father just happens to be a top N.Y. publisher, Chub's stories soon appear in book form, with critical acclaim and paperback-bestsellerdom. But then, while working on a novel about his father, ever-bland Chub loses his creative energy, starts Manhattan drinking, tries Ohio teaching, makes money as a N.Y. researcher. He finds super-sex, love, and wedlock with his old dream-girl, divorcÉe B. J. Peacock--but B. J. is jealous of Chub's love for her little daughter Jesse, who dies in a feeble burst of deus-ex-melodrama. (Some material from The Thing of lt Is and Father's Day is recycled here.) Now 30-ish, Chub is on the verge of breakdown, surviving through a mutual support-system with aging, oddball super-model Bonita Kraus, a.k.a. ""The Bone."" Next, however, he finds super-super-sex with strange young Sandy, a TV addict who seems to have been involved with a psycho claiming to be the real Chub Fuller. So, for unpersuasive reasons, Chub now rediscovers his muse (""He was--stand back, world--writing again""), especially after Sandy commits suicide. . . or was it murder? As always, Goldman offers crisp details and dialogue, along with a few vivid episodes. (Chub's run-in with a psychotic, plagiarizing student; his research exploits.) Also, even if Chub's literary efforts sound more gimmicky than profound, some readers may enjoy the romanticized dramatization of life-material-into-fiction. Overall, however, Chub's soul-journey is superficial and murky, while the supporting cast is defined largely by quirks and nicknames; and, though there's enough cuteness and professional gloss to engage an audience at the start, this ends up as a mildly pretentious, very sentimental, unsatisfying rehash of familiar Goldman themes--from malebonding and childhood psychology to the-writer-as-hero/victim.

Pub Date: April 23, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Warner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION