Crosstalk

[b:Bellwether 24985 Bellwether Connie Willis https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431535122s/24985.jpg 1194887] floored me when I first read it twenty years ago; it's still one of my favorite works, one I reread and enjoy periodically. Deliciously absurd, smart, tender, and eminently believable. We recognize the characters and their situations.I'm crushed to report that Crosstalk isn't so much absurd as ridiculous. Uncomfortably so: imagine a three-hour-long Fawlty Towers movie, the manic pace, the constant deceptions and miscommunications; make the characters flatter, driven more by plot requirements than anything internal; toss in periodic doses of improbable magic; that'll give you a sense of whether you want to read this or not. I found it painful. You know the show, don't tell rule? Willis tells too much without enough showing; the reader is simply dragged along for a too-long ride.But, enough. We all have our duds, I won't spend too long griping; I write this simply as a heads-up to any friends considering reading Crosstalk. Try one of her other books instead.