Customer Reviews

Inside Job

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this in tandem with Nicholas Sparks's TRUE BELIEVER, as both are about investigative reporters, professional debunkers, who encounter what seems to be the real thing at last. Those who have read and enjoyed Sparks's bestseller need to pick up this one for an alternate view.

Connie Willis has penned a spoof of mountebanks in her own style, a funny, endearing take on the men and women who pretend to reach out to the "other side," whose shams and talk show promotions and "reality TV segments" adorn our culture yet today. Her protagonist debunks fake after fake, but is taken aback but a psychic who actually seems to be channeling the legendary debunker H. L. Mencken himself, against her will.

This book is short, a special edition of her novella, but those who value Willis and those who value Mencken will all want to own it, and I predict that it will be one of the more highly sought after collectors items. FIRST EDITIONS MAGAZINE recently did a story on the values of Connie Willis's backlist, and if you have not yet seen it, you're missing something.

The dustjacket on INSIDE JOB is dropdead gorgeous. A splendid job all the way around, outside and inside.

This actually merits closer to 3 1/2 stars in my opinion, not because it isn't good -- it is -- but because this is territory Connie Willis has already mined before and done better, and because the work is really too slight to merit its own volume.

As anyone who is familiar with Willis' work knows, Willis is a fan of movies (particularly screwball romantic comedies), literature, history and spiritualists, and she revisits all of that here to amusing effect. As usual, her writing is in the first person, with lots of witty and erudite diversions from the story as her narrator, a debunker of hack telepaths, faith healers and similar hucksters, tries to prove that a popular channeler of an ancient spirit from Atlantis is a fraud, while avoiding his feelings for his sidekick, a gorgeous actress turned fellow debunker, and still managing to find time to get in lots of clever literary references, particularly the work of H.L. Mencken. In the process, Willis manages to poke fun at pop culture and celebrity while at the same time delighting in them.

If you've never read Connie Willis before, this is an entertaining introduction, but she's done the literary reference/fake spiritualist/can't-quite-get-it-together romance thing better in "To Say Nothing of the Dog," and her previous short stories, particularly "Spice Pogrom," have been a better working of the screwball comedy angle. Her award winning novella "The Last Winnebago" shows how great and moving she can be when she is in form, and while I liked this one, I can't help feeling as though I'd read it before. But hey, second-rate Connie Willish is still better than just about anybody else, so I can't not recommend it, I just can't help wishing this was as good and original as her best work. If you're already a fan, you'll probably enjoy this quick and easy read. If not, start with her longer work or one of her collections, and wait until this is repackaged in a longer volume with other work.

Connie Willis is one of my all-time favorite authors. She writes in multi-levels of meaning on the human condition. Each of her books can be read many times to peel back the layers of the story. Her books are brilliant and pull you into her worlds so deeply that you are left wrung out and emotionally washed at the end of such books as Lincoln's Dreams, the Doomsday Book, filled with hope at the end of Passage, and just laughing out loud with her suble take on pop culture in Bellwether, while amazed at her command of whatever subjects she cares to conquer as part of her plots.

Unfortunately, "Inside Job" does not live up to expectations. It comes across as unpolished, unfinished, and an excuse to rant. While Willis usually "makes it look easy" as in Blued Moon, this novella just comes off as tired.

It starts off with a good idea, but mumbles and rambles its way through a thin plot, a lack of depth, and serious plot flaws. I'd give it 2 1/2 stars, but that's not an option.

Here's hoping Willis returns to her former polished brilliance. But don't waste your money on this one. Go back and re-read Passage or To Say Nothing of the Dog.

Inside Job is the 2005 Hugo Award winning novella by Connie Willis. Inside Job is a modern day paranormal mystery story with a generous helping of pop culture, literature, and movie references.

Rob is a the publisher of a skeptic's magazine The Jaundiced Eye and a professional debunker. His job description is pretty much what it sounds like: he, and his staff of one, debunks claims of the paranormal. When his employee, more of a side kick, calls him about a new claim to debunk, Rob is brought into a mystery of the paranormal which might be more real than he could expect.

While other reviews and descriptions have given away details of the plot which could entice a reader, there is something to be said for letting the novella surprise the reader. Inside Job offers up a fun and sometimes silly story about skepticism, Hollywood, fake psychics and the literary tradition (yes, Willis weaves all of this together in fewer than one hundred pages). References to noted skeptic and reporter from the early 20th Century, H.L. Mencken abound and this adds to the narrative. More specifically, Inside Job is somewhat built around Mencken's ideas as each chapter opens with a Mencken quote.

Willis has written a fine, fun novella and without knowing what else was nominated for the Hugo that year, I can certainly see why Inside Job won. It's a good, fast, fulfilling read. The time investment is small, but now I want to read more of Connie Willis's work. That's the mark of a good book, no matter what the size.

-Joe Sherry

Rob is a true skeptic. In fact, he makes his living (if you could call it that) investigating psychics and channelers while publishing a magazine called the Jaundiced Eye. His motto is; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That may be why he has never allowed himself to get involved with his too good to be true and beautiful assistant Kildy. Little does he know that cosmic forces are about to change his life and tie his beliefs into a Gordian Knot.

Something extraordinary is happening in the performances of a local channeler. In the midst of her act, the spirit of a skeptic from the past generation seems to be taking over and telling the attendees what rubes they are and what a fraud the channeler is. To top it off, this spirit seems to be none other than Rob's hero H. L. Mencken, a great reporter and debunker from the past. Do you see Rob's problem now? If he accepts the spirit is genuine, he must accept channeling as real, but to remain a true skeptic, he must denounce the voice of his hero.

This book, set in Beverly Hills, is styled after a classic hard boiled detective story, and true to that form, Rob smells a trap and suspects that the dame is in on the scam. When Kildy confesses her love for him, it only confirms his suspicions. How can she prove her love to a true skeptic? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and to win the day, true love must untangle this web and rise above all else. But how?

Both short and intricately woven, this story reminded me of the M. C. Escher print of The Drawing Hands, where the left hand is drawing the right and vise-versa, only in this case one of the hands should be holding an eraser. In the end, it's the chicken and the egg question all over again with the creationist against the evolutionists. The ending is written so that a true skeptic will feel quite satisfied, but with the spirit of a dead debunker intruding on the present, who really gets the last laugh? I highly recommend this book to anyone with a brain.

Reviewed by Hugh Mannfield at stormbold.com

I adore Connie Willis' writing. Like the screwball comedies she loves, she manages to make you suspend your disbelief (actually, I think she gets me to stuff it into a closet fora while) and accept patently implausible scenarios. She puts in enough plot twists to make a pretzel dizzy, and surprises me at least once in every novel. She's laugh-out-loud funny at the same time she imparts a few Deep Thoughts, and, by golly, she knows how to tell a story. If you like your F&SF stories to be first and foremost *enjoyable,* you should be lapping up her stuff like candy.

So, why did I give Inside Job only four stars? It's primarily because of the financial value. This is a *novella.* It's not even the length of a short novel (as was Bellwether). I love Willis' writing so much that I lost patience with the book showing up at the local library, or in it ever appearing in paperback; I finally sprang for the hardback.

I'm not sorry I did, really, but the price-for-performance ratio isn't quite up to her best work. It's a very enjoyable story about a debunker of spiritualists who finds himself confronting an apparently-channelled H.L. Menken; I'm sure you'll fall into the easy chair with a box of cookies, as I did, and consume them both in one sitting. On the other hand, I don't think I'm going to re-read this book as often as I have Passages, Bellwether, or To Say Nothing of the Dog.

If you're new to Willis, please start with another book. I'm sure that you'll become as addicted to her work as I am, and you'll eventually pick up a copy of this tale. But this isn't the best introduction you could have to this very, very fine author.

Willis is one of my favorite writers, the author of such masterful novels as _Doomsday Book_ and _To Say Nothing of the Dog._ She also does some terrific shorter work. This one is novella-length, just under 100 pages, but I have to say it's not really one of her best efforts. Rob is the editor and principal writer of a magazine called THE JAUNDICED EYE, in the mold of THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, dedicated to blowing the whistle on spiritualists, creationists, psychics, and other flim-flam artists, especially those practicing in his home base of Los Angeles. He doesn't much bother with "channelers," since there's no way to compile objective evidence disproving them, but he makes an exception when his assistant -- a gorgeous, semi-wealthy ex-movie star named Kildy with a crush on him -- comes across a third-rater calling herself Ariraura, who seems to be channeling the spirit of H. L. Mencken, the great debunker and rationalist himself. An interesting conundrum: How do you help a channeled spirit disprove the fraudulent medium through whom he makes himself known? The writing is light, the insights on Mencken's professional life are interesting (though the author ignores his other, sometimes distasteful opinions), and the narrative moves right along, but it nevertheless seems a bit flat. And I have one question: Since Mencken speaks with his own gravelly voice in all his earlier appearances, why does he speak with the channeler's voice in the big climatic scene?

This book is about the fact that we do need H.L. Menken. Right away! Yes, it's short. However, in case you haven't been watching the news there is a new attempt to get creationism taught in school (now it's called "intelligent design"). And there has been recent debate over how much of a scientist's background should come out with his scientific findings. People who respect science need a champion these days. For my money it's Connie Willis. Always entertaining, tried and true, and skewering the ridiculous. I loved the book.

I gave this story 4 stars because I do love Connie Willis' work. It would be 3 stars if it were anybody else. The story feels as though it were quickly dashed off by Ms. Willis. It lacks her usual original and complex plot. Also, the price is high for what is only a long short story. If you haven't read Ms. Willis before, skip this book and read "To Say Nothing of the Dog".

Being an H.L. Mencken fan, I loved this novella by Connie Willis. The premise is simple, Mencken, long dead, seems to "channel" himself into individuals with views abhorrent to him. Then, he uses these individuals to spout classic Mencken views in public forums, surprising all attendees and, most of all, the person he uses to channel himself. The only hitch is by using this technique, Mencken is proving channeling to be authentic, an activity that he debunks as fraudulent. A real dilemma!