| David Lodge's book is a hilarious and entertaining romp through the world of academia. Professors around the globe attend conferences in order to read papers, build their reputations and enter into love affairs. Pearse McGarrigle finds himself swept up in the world of conferencing, although his interest is not really in the papers presented. Pearse travels around the globe trying to locate the mysterious Al Pabst, the beautiful woman he met at a conference in England. As he travels, he must cope with his sexual desire and his religious ideals as well as with the disturbing information he uncovers about his love. Pabst seems to always be at the next conference, so that as Pearse drains his money trying to fly to Hawaii, Japan, America, and various parts of Europe, he seems to always have just missed the beuatiful woman he wants to marry. During his adventures, Pearse learns a great deal about himself. The professors and academics around Pearse seem to have fewer epiphanies, but they entertain the reader with their professional jealousies, their affairs and their often dishonest behavior. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - upbeat Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Life of a profession: Internal struggle/realization? Yes Struggle over Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Job/Profession/Status story Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 () Europe Yes Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - actual description of hetero sex - Boob talk! - Vagia talk! Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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