Prizes [Audio Cassette]

Erich Segal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

Segal brings to life three memorable characters in a story brimming with loveand loss, discovery and betrayal, life and death. 4 cassettes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Segal stretches himself in this wisest, most mature of his novels, a long, richly researched work about scientific genius that offers substantial rewards. Many will feel giddy when entering the mind of child prodigy Isabel da Costa, a physicist who creates a formula for the Unified Field Theory that baffled Einstein for the last 20 years of his life. Also on hand and headed toward likely Nobel Prizes are Sandy Raven, a geneticist who reverses the aging process in cells, and tragic Adam Coopersmith, who creates MR-Alpha, a drug that overcomes the antivirus that keeps many women from becoming pregnant. The childhoods, family dramas and love affairs of these three geniuses generate steady interest, as do their battles to be accepted, but the real kicker comes when two of the three find themselves facing fatal illnesses. Some of Segal's pages are less than inspired, mainly those about Sandy's obsession with an actress who becomes head of 20th Century-Fox, but few will care as Isabel, Adam and Sandy hack into undiscovered country and Nobels hover ever closer in what could be Segal's biggest hit since Love Story. 250,000 first printing; major ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Book.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Segal, author of earlier commercial successes like Love Story (1970) and Doctors (Bantam, 1988), has written another novel that appears headed along a similar path. Prizes tells the story of three internationally acclaimed scientists who are in the running for the coveted Nobel Prize. Segal's writing style tends to be dry and lifeless when dealing with the emotional events surrounding each character's maturation from infancy to adulthood. Yet the sections dealing with scientific research and the explanation of scientific theories-such as the Unified Field Theory and those of genetic engineering-are clearly explained and fascinating to read. Public libraries with strong current fiction collections would do well to include this title.
--Erna Chamberlain, Binghamton Univ., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Dove Entertainment Inc (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787104299
• ISBN-13: 978-0787104290
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,433,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PRIZE WINNER, March 18, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prizes (Hardcover)

Erich Segal proved that he knows how to pull our emotional chains as well as any contemporary writer in Love Story and Oliver's Story. He may well just have done it again in Prizes, the engrossing tale of three brilliant individuals. Their professional quests plus their lives and romances make for rapt reading.

Child prodigy Isabel da Costa has made a significant discovery, creating a formula that Einstein was unable to piece together. Sandy Raven, his personal life bordering on destruction, has capped his dedication to research by reversing the aging process in cells, and Adam Coopersmith, a physician, has developed an almost miraculous drug to help women who have been unable to become pregnant. His already full life is further complicated by his marriage to a career-minded lawyer and his introduction to Anya, an irresistible Russian emigre. Beckoning all of them is the ultimate accolade, a Nobel Prize.

A compulsively readable tale.

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnifico!, March 9, 2000

By 

Kristine (Manila, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prizes (Mass Market Paperback)

First, the characters are great. Their descriptions are very thorough. You can almost see them, as if they really are true persons. Second, the plot of the story is very well-defined. Third, the flow of the story is well-timed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Erich Segal's best!, June 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prizes (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second book I've read from Erich Segal, the first being "The Class", and all I can say is that its a very, very enjoyable book to read. I can't put it down. After this, I'm looking forward to buying his other books as well. Good work, Mr. Segal.