Next

A Novel

Hardcover, 431 pages

English language

Published Aug. 19, 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-087298-4
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OCLC Number:
875276890

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3 stars (2 reviews)

Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction --- is it worse than the disease?

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime.

We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes ...

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless …

21 editions

Review of 'Next' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

A collection of loosely related short stories clumsily cobbled together.

Good:
Raises valid concerns about genetic engineering and US patent law.

Bad:
Most characters appear morally wrong for no good reason. It detracts from valid criticism of corporate wrongdoers if all characters are adulterers & chauvinists.
Ending is unbelievable.
There's almost no narrative structure to the novel.
* It should have been an essay.

Subjects

  • Genetics -- Fiction
  • Mutation (Biology) -- Fiction