After Roy - Hardcover

This second, rather careless, novel by Tannen ( Second Sight ) exhibits, unfortunately, a fine talent skidding badly off the tracks. For eight years, Maggie Russell has dug herself deeper into the African rain forest of D'jarkoume, a Francophone nation where war is brewing between the tall, martial Moro tribe and the short, artistic Iliods. Heedless of danger, Maggie aims to help her favorite chimpanzee Hilda (who has spent time in captivity and identifies with humans) re-adapt to her natural world. The story alternates between Maggie in native dress, wildly waving her gun at bugs and intruders, surrounded by chimps (Biff, B.P., Katie, Danny, etc.), and her concerned friends and former lovers in the U.S. Of these characters there are far too many, their names dropped liberally on every page. Among the writers, scientists, booksellers and rock musicians cluttering the scene are Eddie, Dorothy, Connie, Yolanda, Roy, Olly, Roger, Krusky, Sparks, Richard and Wanda--to name a few. The plot hinges on a song that Roy wrote, containing Maggie's name and based on an African revolutionary theme. Maggie may be in danger. Can her friends save her? The characters are too flimsy, the story too trivial, for the reader to care.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tannen explores here the effects of our past lives on present choices by picking up the life threads of three people--Mag gie, Yolanda, and Sparks--who in their youth shared love, as well as bed and board, with rock star Roy (of the title). The novel opens in the wilds of Africa, where Maggie is in the midst of a retrain ing experiment: she is preparing human- raised chimpanzees for return to the jun gle. Maggie's devotion to chimpanzee Hilda becomes the major metaphor of the book, as each character struggles with his or her need for love, acceptance, and a sense of belonging. Flawed only by its haphazard beginning, which fails to let readers know what the connections be tween characters are until almost too late, this is a strong book with strong charac ters. Recommended for large public and academic collections.
-Linda L. Rome, Mentor, Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.