Reviews

Imagine that you are a publisher who is handed Tim O'Brien's unsolicited manuscript, Tomcat in Love, about a middle-aged Professor of Linguistics called Thomas Chippering. A `compulsive skirt-chaser', Chippering has been married for 20 years, is eight months divorced, and wants vengeance upon his wife for leaving him for her new husband. The plot seems fairly unremarkable and upon reading the first four chapters, the writing style matches this judgement. It is too flowery and ridiculous to entice you. You are going to put it down but decide to keep reading. The story grows on you. Where initially Chippering annoys you, you find yourself appreciating his verbosity as that of a lover of linguistics. You find yourself marvelling at his tireless obsession with women (he is described as a `fickle, randy old tomcat' with `a girl habit'). But mostly, you find that Chippering's glorified tales of war heroism in Vietnam, and his obsession with revenge and sex make you laugh. A lot. And loudly. Despite the backdrop of revenge, Chippering is refreshingly philosophical and witty (he describes a small girl he admires as `a pin-up girl for gnomes'). You finish Tomcat in Love with a smile on your face and decide to publish it. Michelle Atkins is contract and copyright coordinator/primary editor at Nelson ITP. C. 1998 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors