Second Nature (Paperback)

by Alice Hoffman (Author) "BY APRIL most people had already forgotten about him, except for some of the nurses on the floor, who crossed themselves when they walked past..." (more)
Key Phrases: Old Dick, Wolf Man, Richard Aaron (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Beguiled by her seductive prose and her imaginative virtuosity, readers have always been willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy the touches of magic in Hoffman's novels ( Illumination Night ; Turtle Moon , etc). Here, credibility is stretched not by magical intervention but by the implausibility of a major character. When a feral young man is discovered living with wolves in a remote area of upper Michigan, he cannot speak and can barely remember his early life. Transferred to a hospital in Manhattan, he does not utter a sound and is on his way to being incarcerated in a mental institution until divorced landscape designer Robin Moore impulsively hustles him into her pickup truck and carries him to the sanctuary of her home on an island in Nassau County. There the Wolf Man reveals that his name is Stephen and that he was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed his parents when he was three-and-a-half years old; thereafter he lived with a wolf pack. Within three months Robin teaches Stephen to read; soon afterwards they begin a passionate affair. How Stephen can so easily expand the small vocabulary he had mastered at a tender age but has never used since, how suddenly he can deal with sophisticated concepts, speak in grammatical sentences and even observe the social graces, is the central flaw that undermines what is otherwise a highly engaging tale. Stephen's presence in the community causes various people to reassess their lives; then there is a tragedy involving a child, (a device that is beginning to be a pattern in Hoffman's novels, as are strange changes in climate that herald a significant event). Hoffman's keen appraisal of human nature and her graceful prose do much to keep this novel appealing; but the bedrock implausibility may deter readers from whole-hearted enjoyment.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Hoffman has always written sympathetically about misfits and loners, from her first book, Property Of ( LJ 5/15/77) to Turtle Moon ( LJ 2/15/92), and her new novel is no exception. Robin Moore rescues a wild, nonspeaking young man--called the Wolf Man because he was found, injured, in a wolf trap--from impending transfer to a mental hospital. In the process of teaching Stephen how to live in "civilized" suburban society, she falls in love with him. Meanwhile, neightborhood animals are found with their throats slit, and a teenage girl is murdered; the Wolf Man is naturally a suspect. Hoffman writes with surehanded grace and detail about Stephen's many years living with a pack of wolves, and she's equally adept at sensitively examining marriage, first love, and adultery. Difficult questions about nature vs. nurture, what it means to be civilized, the justification for murder, and the mysteries of real love are explored in evocative prose. This beautifully written, suspenseful, and thought-provoking novel is highly recommended for all libraries. Literary Guild Main Selection.
- Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425146812
• ISBN-13: 978-0425146811
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,176,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What does it mean to be human?, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

Reading over some of the other customer reviews, I notice that many people criticized this book for being too unrealistic. I think those people are missing the point. This is a modern fairy-tale, and fairy-tales are meant to be lessons about what it means to be human, and how we are supposed to live our lives. Using the "Wolfman", Stephen, as a metaphor, Hoffman manages to show how our modern world can cause us to forget our connection to the rest of nature. Using the events in the story, she shows how fragile and precious love is, and how grief and tragedy can cloud our vision and cause us to place blame on innocent people.

This is the third novel by Hoffman I have read, and it is by far the most poignant and most philosophical. Hoffman is a magnificent writer, one whom I strive to emulate. If you are looking for a touch of magic, a story which might illuminate for you what it means to be human in the last part of the twentieth century, Hoffman is the author you should read. And this book would be a great place to start!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Totally unbelievable and full of so many holes it leaks, November 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Second Nature (Paperback)

Almost from the beginning this book grated on my nerves and I regularly wanted to through it against the wall. (Had to read it for a class). We are supposed to believe the main character, Robin, could walk into a hospital in New York City and walk out with its most famous patient, the wolfman, and nobody, not a single soul, noticed. Not the hospital, not the guards who were transferring him to another mental institution and obligingly removed his handcuffs at Robin's request, not the hospital at which he never arrived. In fact, no one notices Stephen is missing until Robin introduces him to her brother, who was, by the way, Stephen's shrink in NYC. The wolfman, during his time with Robin, remembers being, at 3 1/2, the only survivor of a plane crash in which his parents were killed. A she-wolf with maternal instincts suckled him with her other cubs and he became part of the pack. He even picks up some stone age weapons skills along the way to compensate for the lack of big teeth and claws. Magically

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I absolutely loved this book!, September 26, 2003

By	"kajam416" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

I may be biased, because I just love this author, but this was truly a great book. You begin reading it like it is a fairy tale, and soon forget the unlikeliness of the story line -it becomes utterly real to you. This was truly an excellent book - I don't know if I would have read it if I was unfamiliar with the author, but I am so glad I did. I recommend it to all of my friends.