Marx, Deceased

When Twain gave Tom Sawyer the exquisite pleasure of watching his own funeral, he articulated the narcissistic fantasy of all writers. Here, Stephen Marx, the womanizing author of 13 much-praised novels, stages his own demise in order to hear what posterity has to say about him. He carefully crafts his death (""NOVELIST STEPHEN MARX LOST AT SEA,"" the headlines read, ""PRESUMED DEAD""). The prominent critic Noah Berg--who was once cuckolded by the novelist--approaches Miriam Marx, the not-too-grief-stricken widow, on the seemingly innocuous errand of preparing a critical evaluation of her husband's work. In truth, Berg intends the article to be ""his masterwork as a critic,"" as well as ""his masterstrike of revenge."" The scheme is derailed, however, by his sudden involvement with Miriam. The undead Marx, in the meantime, has surfaced in San Francisco, where he has launched a second literary career as the mysterious ""D. Mann."" (Get it?) His secret, however, is uncovered by an enterprising journalism student who makes a bargain with Marx that could make her career and end D. Mann's. Djerassi (Cantor's Dilemma; The Bourbaki Gambit) has had a varied career as a biochemist, writer and art patron. A writer of great intellectual range and facility, he is no craftsman. Many passages in the novel clank like rickety lab apparatus punctuated by the snorts and wheezes of strained gags and puns. But the pleasures of cleverness abound in this Rube Goldberg contraption of a book. Author tour. (Aug.) FYI:FYI: An excerpt from Marx, Deceased can be found on the author's Web page: http://www.djerassi.com.