Corrupting Dr. Nice
by John Kessel
On This Page
Description
August Faison and his gorgeous young daughter Genevieve are seasoned swindlers who rove across time in search of new victims to fleece. Now the most precious pigeon of them all has fallen into their laps, in Jerusalem, at the time of Jesus Christ. Dr. Owen Vannice is far too innocent and far too rich for his own good. A fabulously wealthy paleontologist, he finds himself stranded in the Holy City with a rapidly growing baby dinosaur in tow. And Simon is a disillusioned disciple whose master show more has been kidnapped uptime by colonists from the future. When a desperate act of sabotage brings them all together, their lives are drastically transformed, for Genevieve is falling in love with 'Dr. Nice' against her better judgement, and is even willing to double-cross her father to get him. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
nessreader Both have a flavour of screwball comedy romance and wilful anachronisms abound while the unromantic lovers sort themselves out. Corrupting Dr Nice reminded me a lot of Preston Sturges' film, The Lady Eve.
30
Marissa_Doyle Another Connie Willis comp, this time for the satirical commentary on social mores.
Member Reviews
I think this definitely falls under Romance. SF rom-com. But don't dismiss it so casually! It has a LOT of great worldbuiding features.
Time travel hijinx is only the start of it.
First, throw out paradoxes. New timelines pop up everywhere. But this also means that you can go back to the same past time and pick up the same person or mineral resource and bring it (or them) back to the future. Mozart writing a rock ballad? Yep.
Commercial exploitation of the past. Movie crews hanging out during the time of Jesus. Bringing Jesus forward. Several of him. Pop him out before he actually DOES anything. Enjoy the ramifications. Mix, stir, repeat.
Let's keep the reveals about the dinosaurs to the novel, shall we?
But the rom-com is actually the best show more part! Put a con artist next to a rich scientist and watch the sparks fly.
I had a really fun time. :) show less
Time travel hijinx is only the start of it.
First, throw out paradoxes. New timelines pop up everywhere. But this also means that you can go back to the same past time and pick up the same person or mineral resource and bring it (or them) back to the future. Mozart writing a rock ballad? Yep.
Commercial exploitation of the past. Movie crews hanging out during the time of Jesus. Bringing Jesus forward. Several of him. Pop him out before he actually DOES anything. Enjoy the ramifications. Mix, stir, repeat.
Let's keep the reveals about the dinosaurs to the novel, shall we?
But the rom-com is actually the best show more part! Put a con artist next to a rich scientist and watch the sparks fly.
I had a really fun time. :) show less
A pair of time-traveling con-artists tangle with a paleontologist smuggling an infant dinosaur into the 22nd century. Hijinks ensue.
Corrupting Dr. Nice is a postmodern mash-up of 1930s screwball comedies and science fiction: Preston Sturges meets H. G. Wells. Some of the time paradoxes do not bear close examination, and the novel's frenetic speed does not always allow logic to impede its constant lunge forward, but this, too, is an homage to the source material. (The Lady Eve and Bringing Up Baby will never win any awards for their internal coherence, but nobody cares.)
Corrupting Dr. Nice is a postmodern mash-up of 1930s screwball comedies and science fiction: Preston Sturges meets H. G. Wells. Some of the time paradoxes do not bear close examination, and the novel's frenetic speed does not always allow logic to impede its constant lunge forward, but this, too, is an homage to the source material. (The Lady Eve and Bringing Up Baby will never win any awards for their internal coherence, but nobody cares.)
an interesting approach to time travel.
Multiple universes, without the usual concern for altering the time line
Multiple universes, without the usual concern for altering the time line
Una experta timadora en busca de su nueva presa: un ingenuo cientÃfico joven que resulta ser muy rico y aficionado a los dinosaurios, en una sorprendente historia de amor a través del espacio y el tiempo. Viajes a la Jerusalén ocupada por los romanos en el siglo I después de Cristo, luchas con los celotes, manipulación sin cesar de personajes históricos desde Abraham Lincoln a Jesús y, en medio de todo, los encuentros y desencuentros de una pareja entrañable y una dinosaurio sorprendente.
Mar 27, 2023Spanish
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
What Makes This Book So Great
102 works; 16 members
Blue Pyramid 1,276 Best Books of All Time
1,248 works; 32 members
Author Information
78+ Works 2,338 Members
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- L'Amour au temps des dinosaures
- Original title
- Corrupting Dr. Nice
- Original publication date
- 1997
- Dedication
- Dedicated, with affection, and gratitude, to
Frank Capra
George Cukor
Howard Hawks
Gregory La Cava
Ernst Lubitsch
Leo
McCarey
George Stevens
Billy Wilder
and most especially, in admiration f... (show all)or his genius, to
Preston Sturges - First words
- As Sloane unlaced the bodice of Genevieve's peasant's dress all she could hear was his breathing, fast and light.
- Blurbers
- Le Guin, Ursula K.; McAuley, Paul J.; Robinson, Kim Stanley; Lethem, Jonathan; Willis, Connie
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 208
- Popularity
- 156,643
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.29)
- Languages
- English, French, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
