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Title details for Intuition by Allegra Goodman - Available

Intuition

by Allegra Goodman
Kathe Mazur
Audiobook
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Hailed as “a writer of uncommon clarity” by the New Yorker, National Book Award finalist Allegra Goodman has dazzled readers with her acclaimed works of fiction, including such beloved bestsellers as The Family Markowitz and Kaaterskill Falls. Now she returns with a bracing new novel, at once an intricate mystery and a rich human drama set in the high-stakes atmosphere of a prestigious research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sandy Glass, a charismatic publicity-seeking oncologist, and Marion Mendelssohn, a pure, exacting scientist, are codirectors of a lab at the Philpott Institute dedicated to cancer research and desperately in need of a grant. Both mentors and supervisors of their young postdoctoral protégés, Glass and Mendelssohn demand dedication and obedience in a competitive environment where funding is scarce and results elusive. So when the experiments of Cliff Bannaker, a young postdoc in a rut, begin to work, the entire lab becomes giddy with newfound expectations. But Cliff’s rigorous colleague–and girlfriend–Robin Decker suspects the unthinkable: that his findings are fraudulent. As Robin makes her private doubts public and Cliff maintains his innocence, a life-changing controversy engulfs the lab and everyone in it.
With extraordinary insight, Allegra Goodman brilliantly explores the intricate mixture of workplace intrigue, scientific ardor, and the moral consequences of a rush to judgment. She has written an unforgettable novel.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 28, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739305188
      • File size: 394938 KB
      • Duration: 13:42:47

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The small Mendelssohn-Glass Research Lab is dedicated to cancer research. When Cliff Bannaker's experiment begins to look promising, Sandy Glass rushes publication and a grant proposal. The other post-docs are expected to put their own work aside to support the new project, a situation that engenders resentment. But Robin Decker has suspicions about the merit of Cliff's methodology and results, and opens the lab to public scrutiny. Kathe Mazur's narration is interesting. Her unemotional performance befits the objectivity one expects the scientific process to embody. The unique voices she creates communicate each character's humanity as human foibles and emotions invade the sterile lab. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 5, 2005
      In another quiet but powerful novel from Goodman (Kaaterskill Falls
      ), a struggling cancer lab at Boston's Philpott Institute becomes the stage for its researchers' personalities and passions, and for the slippery definitions of freedom and responsibility in grant-driven American science. When the once-discredited R-7 virus, the project of playboy postdoc Cliff, seems to reduce cancerous tumors in mice, lab director Sandy Glass insists on publishing the preliminary results immediately, against the advice of his more cautious codirector, Marion Mendelssohn. The research team sees a glorious future ahead, but Robin, Cliff's resentful ex-girlfriend and co-researcher, suspects that the findings are too good to be true and attempts to prove Cliff's results are in error. The resulting inquiry spins out of control. With subtle but uncanny effectiveness, Goodman illuminates the inner lives of each character, depicting events from one point of view until another section suddenly throws that perspective into doubt. The result is an episodically paced but extremely engaging novel that reflects the stops and starts of the scientific process, as well as its dependence on the complicated individuals who do the work. In the meantime, she draws tender but unflinching portraits of the characters' personal lives for a truly humanist novel from the supposedly antiseptic halls of science.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Goodman's newest novel revolves around scandal in a science lab, where Cliff's virus, designed to defeat cancer, is suddenly successful after two years with no results. When Robin, another researcher in the lab, finds a second set of notes that contradict the published results, questions are raised, and answers are sought. Jenna Stern reads this story of scientific investigation and inquiry with an even tone that is void of emotional involvement. The lack of voicings makes the characters difficult to differentiate. The slow pace of scientific research is mimicked by the pace of the action, testing the stamina of the listener. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 3, 2006
      There are more rats than those in the cages of the Massachusetts research laboratory at the center of Goodman's novel. Postdoctoral researcher Cliff may have fudged his amazing tumor-reducing results while his bosses are all too eager to capitalize on any discovery. Jenna Stern delivers a lively depiction of the high-pressure world of cancer research. Her narrative commences on a fairly even note and increases in intensity as Nobel Prize fantasies are dashed by congressional hearings and political realities. Stern does a particularly deft job with the heated interchange between Sandy Glass, a lab director, and an irate congressional panel. Stern does less well with Cliff, Robin and the other postdoctoral students at the heart of the story. They all sound remarkably alike, and Stern's voice is too mature for the 20-somethings. The weighted, even intonation is not the way Generation Y speaks—even the highly educated Ivy Leaguers on whom this novel is based. The abridgment is smoothly orchestrated with no noticeable jumps or gaps. Despite these relatively minor flaws, Intuition
      is an enjoyable light listen about a timely issue. Simultaneous release with the Dial Press hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 5, 2005).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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