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A review by rsehrlich
Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle
2.0
2.5/5. I think Doctor Rat stands as an impressive piece of satire, science fiction, and speculative fiction all mashed together, and I don't regret reading it. There's some terrific, heart-rending writing buried in Doctor Rat, but it gets lost in underwhelming detours and prose that bounces between biting satire and unfitting comedy. 30 fewer pages and more focus would have done Doctor Rat a world of good--as would a more consistent tone, a punchier last page, and just a touch less interjection of Doctor Rat's neuroticism. What this book lacks is mostly fine-tuning.
Something else to consider is that this was authored in the 1970s and historical context, as well as a knowledge of what is and isn't fabricated by Kotzwinkle for the purposes of storytelling, is imperative for this to work well. A lot of that perspective has been lost to time and I think the annoyance of having to do the legwork for the book you're reading is another point of disconnection for modern readers, which is unfortunate but in some ways unavoidable. If you pick Doctor Rat up, I highly recommend reading some opinion pieces on it as well--ones from the 1970s as well as the modern ones.
Something else to consider is that this was authored in the 1970s and historical context, as well as a knowledge of what is and isn't fabricated by Kotzwinkle for the purposes of storytelling, is imperative for this to work well. A lot of that perspective has been lost to time and I think the annoyance of having to do the legwork for the book you're reading is another point of disconnection for modern readers, which is unfortunate but in some ways unavoidable. If you pick Doctor Rat up, I highly recommend reading some opinion pieces on it as well--ones from the 1970s as well as the modern ones.