The Tale of the Body Thief [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Rice (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (1994)
• ASIN: B0022W8U1K
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (214 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but something's missing..., April 18, 2000

By 

Becky (Liverpool, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of the Body Thief (Vampire Chronicles) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is undeniably entertaining. The whole 'Lestat can't even handle everyday aspects of being a human' had me laughing out loud at times, and was a wonderful characterization on the part of Anne. However, I can't help but feel that this novel didn't drag me into its narrative so wonderfully as the first three books in this series. The writing seemed to have lost that...indescribably beautiful flow. The breathtaking mixture of gothic tragedy, horror and romance so notable in its predecessors remains, for the most part, aloof, and at times it feels like you are reading a well-written piece of fan-fiction rather than part of the Vampire Chronicles. I also had real problems with the character of David. Granted, he was mildly intriguing in 'Queen of the Damned', but now he just appears as yet another character in what had been a wonderful cross-section of characters created in the first few novels. He also annoyed me because the excellent love-hate relationship between Louis and Lestat, something that this series is infamous for, was often ousted for his ramblings on God. Enough! In fact, this character so bored me that I have to draw on points raised by some of the other reviewers-- you end up hoping desperatley that Louis, Armand or one of the others will show up again. And that's the thing; the scenes between Louis and Lestat are so entertaining, so insightful that when Lestat leaves to return to David, you just groan and think 'here we go again'. This novel is good for two things-- firstly, as an insight into the tragedy of growing old, of the waste of life, (so wonderfully linked to Yeats's 'Sailing to Byzantium') and also if you are just in the mood for a comic-book type of adventure. However, if the reason you read the first novels was for that blend of history, romance and gothic themes-- you will find it here, only not quite as much as you had hoped. Shame. In summary, all I can say is that perhaps this series should have ended with 'Queen of the Damned'. Memnoch was a travesty; this story, though entertaining, does not feel as 'tight' as the others in terms of narrative and characterization. I feel it should have simply ended with the scene where the other vampires have gone off to pursue their own adventures, and a furious Louis is stalking the streets of London with a grinning Lestat who howls, 'Tell me how bad I am! It makes me feel so good!' That's only because this story doesn't end quite so well, for all its excellent parts. Think of it as 'Ernest does necromancy'.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a delightful tale, September 19, 2000

By 

"phryne" (Bologna, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tale of the Body Thief (Vampire Chronicles) (Mass Market Paperback)

I wonder why _The tale of the Body Thief_ didn't get the same success as _Interview_ or _The Vampire Lestat_.
The story is strong and original: Lestat, bored of his immortal and static life, accepts to exchange his supernatural body with a rascal, named Raglan James. Thus Lestat can experience human life: food, drinks and, for the first time, sex.
His love affair with the young waitress is an enchanting piece of literary skillness. We see Lestat enjoying sex with the reluctant girl -but his real problem is not the girl's unwillingness, it is the relation with his new mortal body!
The romance with the nun is less convincing: Lestat could have chosen something less complicated for his spiritual evolution.
But that doesn't matter: the immortal vampire experiences human life, he is attracted by it, but finally prefers to return to his originale condition. No sweat, no hunger, no bad smells, no problems....
Of course, Lestat will have to face the treacherous and unfaithful Raglan James for returning to his original state. But this is not very important: I think that in the seconda part of the book the most interesting scene is Lestat's visit to the waitress, to beg her pardon. Something very human and sweet, a very significant moment in Lestat's development from _Interview with the vampire_ Miss Roce's style is at its best, vivid and intriguing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting under the skin of the vampire Lestat..., April 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tale of the Body Thief: The Vampire Chronicles (Hardcover)

Of The Vampire Chronicles, this is my absolute favourite. They are all magnificent books, but this one is a bit different than the others. It focuses even more on Lestat, his mistakes which always leads him into great adventures, and on his friendship with David Talbot.
When the story begins, Lestat is tired. He is not sure whether or not he wants to live. Infact, he tries to take his own life, but fails. This doesn't make him feel any better...
Then this Raglan James comes forward, and gives Lestat an offer; he wants them to switch bodies...
For three days, Lestat could be human again, if he agrees to the offer given by Raglan James. Of course, it would be irresponsible to let a human use a body as strong as his, Lestat thinks, but still he is tempted. Well, Lestat isn't known for always being responsible and thinking about the consequences, and so he accepts. And what happens? Raglan James escapes with his new vampire body, and Lestat is stuck inside a human body. Some way, he has to get his own body back...
This book is truly brilliant, it has everything! As soon as you start reading, you're stuck. I read it in two days, almost without eating or sleeping during the time. You really fall in love with Lestat, and his neverending mistakes.... Read this book, you will not regret it!