Reviews

The Good Terrorist is the story of a loose-knit group of political vagabonds who move about London, living off the dole and existing as squatters in abandoned or condemned houses. Alice Mellings, the central figure in this tale, acts as a housemother to her fellow comrades, bringing curtains (stolen from her own mother), cooking soup, carrying out trash, and finagling hot water and electricity for their comfort. Her efforts go largely unappreciated, however, for the others are more interested in radical political actions, such as bombing and being recruited by the IRA. Even though Alice never truly articulates her own political convictions, she becomes a willing partner in a terrorist act that seals her fate as a dysfunctional, drifting adult. Lessing portrays terrorism as psychopathological rather than political and thereby creates a chilling, strangely compelling storyÄone that will haunt listeners for quite some time. Unfortunately, Nadia May's nasal quality does not enhance the listening experience, and character transitions are difficult to follow until the story casts its darkly hypnotic spell, which happens by the end of the first tape. After that, the listener becomes used to May's voice and is held captive until the work's abrupt end. Despite these few drawbacks, this audiotape is essential for all literature collections; highly recommended for all popular fiction fans.ÄGloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Lessing (The Golden Notebook, etc.) offers a bleak analysis of a decaying world in this tale about a group of British radicals who get mixed up in terrorist activities far beyond their level of competence. PW commented that the ``compulsively readable story . . . vividly displays the full array of Lessing's superb gifts as a traditional writer.'' (October)