Debbie Lee Wesselmann

Debbie Lee Wesselmann

I am the author of three books, two novels and a collection of short stories: Captivity (coming in February 2008), Trutor & the Balloonist, and The Earth and the Sky: Stories. You can find out more about my books at http://www.trutor.net as well; all of my books can be ordered from the major online bookseller sites or your local bookstore. ...more »
  • PA
  • member since Sunday, December 2 2007

Profile: Reviews

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  • Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human
    • Rated 5 stars

    Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human is a fascinating "biography" of one of the most famous ASL-signing chimps. Although I read the original Terrace book on Nim, I had not known what had become of him after he was rescued from a grim fate in the notorious LEMSIP lab. Hess offers not only an engrossing portrait of Nim, but she also provides the context for the ape language studies, the public outrage when Nim was sold for biomedical research, and some of the issues facing non-human primate captivity. This book also questions some of the events depicted in Next of Kin by Roger Fouts, although the two books still complement each other.

    Debbie Lee Wesselmann wrote this review Thursday, March 13 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Middlesex: A Novel
    • Rated 5 stars

    I wasn't sure I liked this novel until after 50 pages or so, but then I couldn't stop reading, although it can hardly be called a page-turner. The writing was engrossing and the characters intriguing.

    I can understand why some people wouldn't love this novel as much as I do. It takes a certain kind of reader, with specific tastes, to appreciate it. Unlike, say, The Kite Runner, which continues along at a brisk pace, Middlesex makes demands of its readers. If you don't like the particular demands it makes, you aren't going to like it. (That's why appreciation of literature is so subjective!)

    Debbie Lee Wesselmann wrote this review Saturday, January 5 2008. ( reply | permalink )
    • Rated 0 stars

    I liked this book, but didn't love it, primarily because the "secret" was too predictable. Still, I love O'Farrell's writing and her method of telling this story from the three points-of-view. Although Kitty's Alzheimer-fractured thoughts were (necessarily) cryptic at times, her narrative enlarged the novel in ways Iris and Esme could not.

    Debbie Lee Wesselmann wrote this review Sunday, December 30 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
    • Rated 4 stars

    Haddon's novel is amazing for the way it uses point-of-view. To remain consistently within the head of someone with Asperger's and to tell a compelling story on top of it requires both skill and guts. I love how Christopher's observations clue the reader into what is really going on without his being aware of it himself.

    The novel is fantastic on first reading, but second- and third-readings don't add much more than can be gleaned on the first pass.

    Debbie Lee Wesselmann wrote this review Thursday, December 13 2007. ( reply | permalink )


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