Saving St. Germ: A Novel [Paperback]

Carol Muske-Dukes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

From the author of Dear Digby--a tragicomic tour de force. A brilliant chemist walks the tightrope between genius and madness, as she becomes obsessed with solving the equations in her "Theory of Everything." "A prescient novel for the 1990s."--New York Newsday.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dukes follows up the entertaining but flawed Dear Digby with a more mature second novel, in which she continues her exploration of female creativity and eccentricity. As gifted scientist Esme Charbonneau Tallich nears a breakthrough in the formulation of a Theory of Everything, her behavior becomes increasingly bizarre. She is suspended from her job at a large California university after she neglects her teaching and research duties. Her fragile marriage to an aspiring stand-up comic deteriorates. Then her most vital relationship is threatened when her husband, Jay, agrees with the teachers and doctors who want to institutionalize their peculiar but gifted daughter Ollie, a five-year-old who spends most of her time observing the world from inside a cardboard box decorated to look like a television set. A series of "Imaginary Lectures to Ollie," woven into the plot, enhance our understanding of the often-difficult Esme and her strong bonds to both her career and her daughter. This portrait of the artist as wife, mother and academic limns the semi-madness of a creative woman. It is engaging and irreverent, peopled by offbeat, sharply delineated characters. Long a highly regarded poet, Dukes has developed into a skilled novelist as well.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Esme Charbonneau--wife, mother, Harvard graduate, and scientist--is hired by a prestigious university because "they had to have a woman." Esme relishes teaching and studying organic chemistry. In fact, she visualizes chemical structures to relax and reduce stress. Her husband, Jay, is a technical director for Paramount by day and a hapless stand-up comic by night. Their five-year-old daughter, Ollie, exhibits signs of emotional dysfunction, which alienates Jay but leaves Esme undaunted. The long-suffering husband laments that "Mom has her head in the stars and the kid acts like she's from Mars." As Esme struggles to discover a TOE (Theory of Everything), her marriage disintegrates, her teaching declines, and her state of mind becomes increasingly fragile. Dukes's interesting blend of scientific discourse, dream sequences, and ruminations on the "Sexist Highlights of Science History" will appeal to general readers and to anyone with a bent for the sciences.
- Kimberly G. Allen, National Assn. of Home Builders Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140239138
• ISBN-13: 978-0140239133
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,043,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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