Atomic Candy [SIGNED COPY, FIRST PRINTING]

Funny and sage, Atomic Candy is a frontal assault on the cultural icons of the last half of the 20th century. It is, in the author's own phrase, a new kind of comic novel, wearing spiked heels and draped in the American flag".

Burke's first novel, like the atomic candy of its title, pops and fizzes, but overdoses on confection. Pregnant Kate Albion, a Boston Democratic ward worker whose motto is "you can never be too thin or too ruthless," gets so riled by Nixon's "Checkers" speech that she goes into labor, giving birth to a daughter her husband names Marilyn after his idol. Marilyn Albion, like the rest of her generation, grows up to amid the turbulence of media events--the Kennedy assassinations, the Vietnam War and feminist protests. Breezy, jazzy, joke-packed, this novel, which opens a window on blue-collar Boston Irish, could have been a delight--but, padded with repetition and cliche, (what were you doing the day John Kennedy was killed?) trivializes recent history and human experience.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The time is September 1952, the place Boston. Kate Albion, tireless Irish politico and foremost champion of JFK, is thrown into such a state by Nixon's Checkers speech that she prematurely gives birth. Husband Joe, having recently served as Marilyn Monroe's Marine honor guard, is so smitten with the blonde bombshell that he insists on naming their baby daughter for her. Kate consents, provided that Joe agrees to run for office. Aided by this eccentric duo, and the novel's cast of colorful characters, little Marilyn grows up to fulfill her destiny as an actor in Nixon's downfall. Interspersed with quotes from political speeches, contemporary songs, and the Nixon impeachment hearings, Burke's first novel is a rich and zany tale that admirably re-creates the pre-Watergate era and conveys a wacky nostalgia for our turbulent past. Humorous and engaging.
- Kimberly G. Allen, Georgetown Univ. Law Lib., Washington, D.C
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.