The Night of the Comet: A Novel
In the summer of 1973, the summer that Comet Kohoutek is due to arrive, 14-year-old Alan Broussard is head over heels in love with his classmate Gabriella, who may or may not return his affection. As for Alan’s science-teacher father and namesake, he is equally smitten . . . with the comet! It is virtually all he can talk about in his classroom and in the community. But no one—at first—takes the twitchy, nerdy teacher seriously. However, as the comet, which clearly is meant to be more than a comet, comes closer, he begins to rise in stature. Yet while comets and the human heart may promise hope and possibility, they are capricious things. Will both the teacher and his lovesick son be disappointed? Bishop has written a quiet, occasionally bittersweet novel about the differences between desire and disappointment, expectations and reality. Though the son’s story is predictable, the tender heart of the novel is the father’s, which is more original and, ultimately, more engaging. --Michael Cart