(written by a Ph.D. dissertation coach)
Review of Inconceivable! by Steve Marshall Cohen
If you want a good, fast, semi-light read, Inconceivable! is it. It takes you away from your troubles and stagnant TV and into others’ funny, ridiculous, heart-wrenching lives, in which both men and women readers will recognize at least some of their own concerns.
The book grabs you from the first sentence (what is that woman in the running suit doing in the bookstore?). And doesn’t let you go. It flips between characters, epochs, countries with ease, always engrossing. You’re drawn in. Part of what keeps one reading is Cohen’s interweaving of one of the main mysteries—the ancestry and heritage (I’m not telling you more)—throughout and his revealing of the answers in slim threads until the final satisfactions.
As for genre, the book bends and straddles many; it’s hard to pin down. It’s a combination of chick lit, comedy, erudition, sober and not-so social critique, intrigue, exposure of business machinations and irresponsible drug-prescribing, outrage, and historical commentary (although Cohen admits some “history” is creatively constructed). This mash-up is what makes the book so hard to put down. Where is he going next? With whom? Why?
As a New Yorker always (although relocated), I especially enjoyed Cohen’s deft capturing of quintessential New York scenes—great bookstore, sidewalk cafes, Gray’s Papaya. Cohen also has great facility in quick character sketches—the main female character’s friend, the glamorous model, the slightly eerie doctor.
Consistently and tremendously entertaining, Cohen in his first book shows great mastery and interweaving of plots, subplots, and semiplots. And he doesn’t forget to tie them all up at the end, especially in the Epilogue.
Inconceivable! Is an ambitious, intricate, alternatively hilarious and terribly moving novel. Let’s have more from Steve Marshall Cohen!
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