A Time to Sing

Painfully pedestrian writing, threadbare stereotypes and Mandel's ( Change of Heart ) pathetic attempt to portray the hip world of rock musicians all undermine this novel about an ill-fated romance. Pop singing sensation Karen Wells, an earthy farm girl from Ithaca, couldn't be more different from meek Edward Vaughn, a middle-aged Columbia University professor who has always been joylessly immersed in academics. They meet in a stalled elevator in London, where Karen playfully sheds her blouse before serenading him. A potent (albeit unlikely) attraction begins, but impediments inevitably arise. Edward, an authority on the Bloomsbury Group, is far more erudite than Karen, who identifies Beowulf as a rock band; his poet sister, Persis, becomes jealous of Karen, whose possessive manager resents Edward. Karen ultimately forsakes her burgeoning career to be with her beloved scholar, until events take a tragic turn. This shallow Love Story clone contains every flaw imaginable, including ridiculous dialogue (`` . . . when God made you, he left out the chastity molecules''), idiotic characters and a hopelessly saccharine ending. (June)