Wilhelm's attempt at a screwball romantic comedy, I think. More science fantasy than science fiction. It begins with a hacker vs computer sequence straight out of War Games -- but less believable -- that leads to a mishap with a military test, that leads to Corky Corcoran getting turned into a technological version of a ghost. The hacker element and the scientists involved are dropped from the plot almost immediately, and the rest of the novel focuses on Corky, Lauren -- the woman who saw Corky get zapped, and the Commie-hating colonel who is convinced she and Corky are spies. The opening chapters are a mess, as Wilhelm introduces way too many characters, with surprising inability to hold a point of view through even a paragraph. Things get better once the story settles down to just Lauren, Corky, and the colonel, though the colonel was an out of date cliche even back when the book first appeared. There's also an intriguing side plot that may or may not involve The Other Side, or perhaps the end of time, as in Kage Baker's The Company series, though it really doesn't matter that much in the end. The most interesting passage is one early chapter when Corky is first disincorporated and finds himself omnipresent in the thoughts of people around the world. There's some pretty unpleasant things described, given that the book is primarily a comic adventure.

Only for Wilhelm completists. ( )

Crazy Time was a difficult read and requires some concentration and patience. Kate Wilhelm put together this short novel about a guy, Corky, who unwittingly gets vaporized when a hacker sets off a computer which sets off an experimental laser. He vaporizes and becomes somewhat of a ghost feature, but not exactly.

The story also revolves around the psychologist employment counselor Lauren and her mixed up bunch that she works with at the counselling place. The author does not develop her co workers at all. They're very cardboard, stereotypical characters.

The author will repeat a crazy point about a character over and over again until I just want to shout to the book "OK, I got it already!"

The book is supposed to be humorous and seems to attempt the same line of humor as Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but fails completely.

Another over the top chracter is Trigger Happy, a colonel who has delusions of persecution and paranoia, again so over-the-top that no one could possibly be this way. And where does he get the resources to pay for the spies, the equipment, etc.

Bottom Line: The plot holes and the repetitive nature of her writing makes the book a difficult read. Will Corky get Lauren? Will she realize he is more than a figment of her imagination? Maybe you'll read it and find out!


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Noted during my 1980's attempt to read every book in my small town library.

Crazy Time was a difficult read and requires some concentration and patience. Kate Wilhelm put together this short novel about a guy, Corky, who unwittingly gets vaporized when a hacker sets off a computer which sets off an experimental laser. He vaporizes and becomes somewhat of a ghost feature, but not exactly.

The story also revolves around the psychologist employment counselor Lauren and her mixed up bunch that she works with at the counselling place. The author does not develop her co workers at all. They're very cardboard, stereotypical characters.

The author will repeat a crazy point about a character over and over again until I just want to shout to the book "OK, I got it already!"

The book is supposed to be humorous and seems to attempt the same line of humor as Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but fails completely.

Another over the top chracter is Trigger Happy, a colonel who has delusions of persecution and paranoia, again so over-the-top that no one could possibly be this way. And where does he get the resources to pay for the spies, the equipment, etc.

Bottom Line: The plot holes and the repetitive nature of her writing makes the book a difficult read. Will Corky get Lauren? Will she realize he is more than a figment of her imagination? Maybe you'll read it and find out!


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Substance: The jacket blurb calls this "a modern-day "Topper" with a science-fiction twist" but that was a dated reference even in 1988 when it was published; it's more like a modern-day "Ghost and Mrs. Muir" although the sf twist is interesting.
Style: Vintage Wilhelm narrative, convoluted but not confusing. The contextually appropriate but unnecessarily graphic sex scenes make it unsuitable for the youth audience it could otherwise be directed to.

NOTE: Her short stories are much better. ( )