A Reasonable Madness: A Novel [Hardcover]

Fran Dorf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

A wealthy and tortured woman confesses to a bloody slashing on a deserted Manhattan street. The police don't believe her, and psychiatrist David Goldman is brought in. He becomes obsessed with her, and is on the verge of destroying himself and his career when he uncovers a dark and twisted secret.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This striking, documentary-style first novel, written during Stratton's imprisonment for conspiring to import marijuana and hashish, teems with manic drug-world characters and grasps the "internal rhythm" of a complex criminal investigation in New York. The deeply felt viewpoint is that of investigator/attorney Arthur Grimm, Harvard Law School grad and loner, who as a Vietnam vet acquired his mystical devotion to marijuana's mind-expanding potency. Grimm falls in love with the woman he must defend, strong, beautiful Brit aristocrat "junk queen" Sonny Byrne-Downes, indicted for running a global ring. When $6.5 million vanishes and the body of photographer Karl Lundgren, a runner turned DEA spy, is found in the trunk of a rented car by Grimm and shady DEA agent "Zoo" Zuluaga, the action gets even hotter. Though threatened with a no-parole life sentence, loyal Sonny refuses to snitch to the Feds, but "like a goddess" guards her friends--notably sweet, zany rock star Rickie Rude--from the law. An exhilarating prison break is detailed with dreamlike lyricism. While the author's account of a degraded, manipulative justice system may be biased, he conveys it with passionate authority. Stratton's story "Skyline Turkey" won the 1990 PEN American Writers' Prison Writing Award.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Psychiatrist David Goldman's world changes dramatically when the New York police ask him to pick up one of his clients at the local precinct. Wealthy heiress Laura Gardner Wade has confessed to the brutal murder of a woman. An eyewitness states that the killer was a man, but because Laura's confession is so detailed the police do nothing but try to prove her guilt. Laura's clairvoyance and the mutual attraction growing between her and Goldman jeopardize her sanity as well as her safety. In this first novel Dorf tells a decent story but fails to develop her plot and characters adequately. Since there is only one other suspect and little suspense, the ending is unconvincing and unsatisfying. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155972045X
• ISBN-13: 978-1559720458
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,284,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, August 16, 2009

By 

Aleksey Berzon - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Reasonable Madness (Paperback)

I liked the book, read it several times at the airport. Not sure why so many people gave it a poor rating.

The story is unique and I liked the ending. All the characters had a feeling to them, over all it was a good read.

2.0 out of 5 stars An afternoon of silliness, September 23, 2003

By 

Gary Scott (SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Reasonable Madness (Paperback)

I read this for the sake of reading something in English. It wasn't a terrible book, so to say, and the plot is somewhat original. But still, I had the feeling I was reading for Adolescent Literature again.