Crazy Time [Paperback]

Kate Wilhelm (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After an errant laser beam intersects with an aspiring cartoonist, dispersing his molecules throughout the known universe (but not killing him), the sole witness to the incidentpsychologist Lauren Steelebecomes the target of a mad military officer's paranoid fantasies. At the heart of Wilhelm's ( Huysman's Pets ) clever sf intrigue is a love story between two people trying to hold themselves together in the face of a reality turned to chaos. JC
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Mass Market Paper (February 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312913877
• ISBN-13: 978-0312913878
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,092,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1928, Kate Wilhelm the author of more than thirty novels including Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang and The Unbidden Truth. Her work has been adapted for TV and film and translated into twenty languages. She has been awarded the Prix Apollo, Kurd Lasswitz, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. In 2003, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Her short fiction appeared in landmark anthologies such as Again Dangerous Visions, Orbit, The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women, and The Norton Book of Science Fiction. A cofounder of the Clarion Writers' Workhops, she continues to host monthly writing workshops in Eugene, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Corky Holds It Together In this "Crazy Time" of a Novel!, July 16, 2011

By 

Scotman55 "James" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Crazy Time (Paperback)

Crazy Time was a difficult read and requires some concentration and patience. Kate Wilhelm put together this short novel about a guy, Corky, who unwittingly gets vaporized when a hacker sets off a computer which sets off an experimental laser. He vaporizes and becomes somewhat of a ghost feature, but not exactly.

The story also revolves around the psychologist employment counselor Lauren and her mixed up bunch that she works with at the counselling place. The author does not develop her co workers at all. They're very cardboard, stereotypical characters.

The author will repeat a crazy point about a character over and over again until I just want to shout to the book "OK, I got it already!"

The book is supposed to be humorous and seems to attempt the same line of humor as Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but fails completely.

Another over the top chracter is Trigger Happy, a colonel who has delusions of persecution and paranoia, again so over-the-top that no one could possibly be this way. And where does he get the resources to pay for the spies, the equipment, etc.

Bottom Line: The plot holes and the repetitive nature of her writing makes the book a difficult read. Will Corky get Lauren? Will she realize he is more than a figment of her imagination? Maybe you'll read it and find out!