NNNNN: A Novel - Hardcover

Reiner, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743286693 ISBN 13: 9780743286695

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2006

Synopsis

The hero of Carl Reiner's nutty and wonderful novel, Nat Noland, is hard at work on his fifth book, his own version of Genesis, concentrating on the relationship between Cain and Abel. While investigating their relationship, he starts to investigate his relationship with himself. His doting wife, Glennie, gets worried when she hears him having a loud, heated discussion while he's alone in the basement. Because he is unaware that he is talking to himself -- in two distinct voices -- she encourages him to seek the help of the famous Viennese psychiatrist Dr. Frucht.

After a few sessions, Dr. Frucht elicits descriptions of Nat's recurring childhood dreams and the fact that he never knew his biological parents. In the lobby, when Nat bumps into the lovely Dr. Gertrude Trampleasure, an empathologist, she tells him how much he resembles her old teenage sweetheart, Buddy Keebler: "You two could be twins!" With the assistance of a private eye, Nat embarks on a quest to search for this "twin" and his unknown past, while continuing to work on his biblical novel, NNNNN.

About this title

About the Author:

Carl Reiner, a comedian, actor, novelist, and film director, was a creator, writer, and producer of The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1999, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American humor by the Kennedy Center and inducted into the Television Hall of Fame by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He most recently appeared in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve. He lives in Beverly Hills, California.

From AudioFile:

Our hero is a (not very good) middle-aged writer, an orphan who talks to himself without realizing it. While writing his take on Cain and Abel, he discovers shocking facts about his past and his ethnicity. The appearance of two triplet siblings leads to embarrassing incidents of mistaken identity. As narrated by the author, this short, droll novel produces smiles rather than laughs. Gone are the sparkle and clarion voice of that more youthful Reiner fans know from "Your Show of Shows," "The 2000-Year-Old Man," and "The Dick Van Dyke Show." The years have produced a gravelly and mellow charm that attractively supplements the personality of his writing. A brief interview finishing the final side provides no new revelations but is entertaining nonetheless. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0743286693
• ISBN 13: 9780743286695
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224