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Intuition By Allegra Goodman ( The Dial Press )
Release Date: 2006-02-28
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $25.00
Price: $16.50
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Product Description
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.
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 When Did This Take Place? ( neilnmarty )
I read this book in one day when I was sick in bed in Europe and couldn't get anything else in English. I'm not sure I would have finished it otherwise.
I was aware of Allegra Goodman's reputation, but was disappointed in the writing and character development. Not bad, but no Jane Austen.
For some reason Ms. Goodman chose to avoid all references to pop culture. As a result, there was no way to tell when the story took place. Obviously not in the present---------WHERE ARE THE CELL PHONES?
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Eh...
I really liked the authenticity she went for with this novel. Being a research scientist myself, I understood the pressures of trying to find funding and the like.
I rarely read, but I kept on with this story. I just found the ending to be weak. Marion was way too perfect and the way she dealt with Cliff's life after the hearing was really poor too. As another reviewer put it...she just ran out of steam
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 Fun, quirky novel ( seanna132 )
I really enjoyed this novel. I connected with the characters, was pulled around (in a good way) by the plot. A perfect beach read -- not complicated, but enjoyable.
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 original and truthful novel about the world of science ( ola2170 )
I liked the idea behind "Intuition", because it was the first novel I have ever encountered, which was so close to my own life and profession. Allegra Goodman managed to find the underappreciated niche and filled it with a remarkable book. The world of academic life sciences is rendered with precision in "Intuition"; it is obvious that the author took her time to really get into the work in the lab in a prestigious institute.
Marion Mendelssohn and Sandy Glass are two co-principal investigators of the lab where several dedicated postdocs and technicians work like crazy to get the groundbreaking results. The novel starts when one of the postdocs, Cliff, is reprimanded for pursuing the experiments with R-7 virus strain, which do not seem to work. Cliff is ordered to work with another postdoc, Robin (who is also his girlfriend), on her project (which also does not work although she has been trying for five years). Behind his back, Sandy and Marion discuss letting Cliff go.
Everything changes when suddenly Cliff's experiments start working and his model mice, which are injected with cancer cells and have developed tumors, after being treated with the virus, go into remission. Everyone is happy and excited, everyone has to help Cliff finish the experiments, Cliff becomes the star of the lab, gives interviews, his results are published in Nature... But Robin suspects that something might be wrong and decides to conduct her own small investigation...
I liked very much the characters in this novel - there are probably all the personality types one can see in the world of science, from the child prodigy, through the meticulous worker, the ironic pessimist, the pursuer of success, to the fame-devouring narcissist. They are from different countries and social backgrounds, which also reflects the real situation.
All the feelings the scientist might feel during the work - frustration, jealousy, tiredness, but also relief, pride and happiness after achieving the goal are also there. The work and living conditions of all levels of scientists are perfectly depicted. The non-so-scientific side of doing science is also introduced: the National Institutes of Health bureaucracy, grant writing, media attention, and, most importantly, scientific integrity, which is the main issue in this novel. There are only two things I am wondering about: how universal this story is, how many people will read it with interest equal to mine, how important the questions discussed really are to the general public; and how soon it will get obsolete - the progress in life sciences is enormously fast so in a few years this book may read like a fossilized record of past endeavors. Anyway, fortunately now postdocs earn more than seventeen thousand dollars a year...
There was enough suspense to keep the reader engrossed, and Goodman made sure that there is enough background to get even to the people who have no clue about science. The ending is very realistic though - I do not want to include a spoiler, but I just have to say that it is very much like life and not much like a novel, which I think is a good thing, but not everyone would probably agree with me.
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 Embarrassed to be caught in public reading this! ( egduong )
I forced myself to read this for a class. It was much like choking down spoiled milk. Goodman takes what could have been an excellent plot about ethics in research, and turns it into a soap-opera-style romance novel. She skips around the plot by bringing in extraneous characters. Who cares about Kate or her literary fanatics (she and her sisters have the exact same personality, by the way - how creative)? Half the book is just quotations from Donne and other literary work. Every now and then, Goodman lays out a pseudo-strange relationship between Sandy and Marion, the latter of whom is apparently a goddess to her husband - all highly unbelievable.
Goodman does not bother to pick a main character. She makes it easy for herself by jumping from character to character with a third person omniscient perspective - everybody's thoughts get a say in this novel. But because of this, the storyline gets muddled with feelings and motives, to the point where the case of cheating is smothered with flowery descriptions and ridiculous romantic language. Also, there's no one to root for, since no character gets fully developed - the reader ends up hating all of them.
The story ends up being anti-climactic, with the cheaters getting no just desserts, and there is no revelation as to why. Sure, science students could probably fathom why, but those unfamiliar to the field are left confused.
This is one book that you can judge by its cover - pink, girly, and just plain terrible. Why else do you think Amazon sellers are pricing it so cheaply? Leave it on the shelves for Goodman fans.
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Addiction
