Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 28, 1993 TAG: 9311280172
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by MARY ANN JOHNSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Is it love that makes the world go around, or is it money?
A forthright capitalist would choose the latter; a best- selling author may argue that it is a blend of the two. Robert James Waller has proven to be a master at writing the first in a way that produces an excess of the second.
In "Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend" he tries, very methodically, to repeat the phenomenal success of his first novel, "The Bridges of Madison County." He may well do so, but his fans should be forewarned that the gentility, the propriety and the unfulfilled possibilities that provided much of the appeal of "Bridges" have been replaced with obvious contrivances, superficial characters, prurient plot, tinny dialogue and kinky sex.
The best-selling formula is here: a university setting in the Midwest, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past and the strange name of Jellie, her dreary husband, an antagonistic dean and, most important, a masculine, maverick professor who rides a motorcycle and takes guff from nobody.
Needless to say, this independent and jaded professor, Michael Tillman, falls hopelessly in love with the unavailable Jellie. She flees the pull of her reciprocal feelings by escaping to India to think things over and to confront her past. Amidst supposedly shocking revelations and haunting but "meaningful" tiger images, the paramount questions become: Will she accept him? Will he accept her despite her secret? Telling would not be fair but you can easily guess.
The monetary success of this novel is assured, and there is something to be said for giving the public what it wants. But to those who attribute literary value to Waller's work, the motorcycle man's own expletive applies ... "C'mon."\ Mary Ann Johnson teaches at Roanoke College.
by CNB