Xanthan Gumm - Robin Reed Book Review

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Review Summaries

"Xanthan Gumm, or Xanth for short, is about to land on the forbidden planet called Earth. He has dreamed of going to this planet for years, a planet where mysterious creatures called Humans make the best form of entertainment in the galaxy - The Movies! Xanth crash lands in a city called Chicago, far from Hollywood. An army general named Les S. Moore sees the ship on radar and vows to find the alien invader. Xanth is befriended by a homeless man named Al. Al takes Xanth to a basement where he and some other homeless people sleep. They watch a video of "E.T." with Chinese subtitles. General Moore flies to Chicago to hunt the alien. He also visits his ninety year old mother. She thinks that Eisenhower is still president. Al teaches Xanth how to panhandle. They make a good team because Xanth can pose as Al's sickly son. When Al drinks too much and passes out in an alley, Xanth gets help from a young man. The young man calls his friends and they all trash the video store above the basement. General Moore is frustrated when mysterious agents in brown suits take away Xanth's spaceship. He flies to Washington D.C. to meet with the committee that selects America's next enemy. Xanth helps the elderly owner of the video store foil the young hoods even though he doesn't know how to dial a telephone. The next day, a reporter for "The National Babbler" tells Xanth that he has heard that Xanth's ship is being held on the south side of the city. Al and Xanth head towards the south side, hoping to find the ship. General Moore is sleeping in his mother's house when two Ggnorphodors, aliens who like to pull practical jokes, wake him up and tell him where Xanth's ship is. The general takes a bus to the south side, hoping to find the ship. "
Robin Reed, Resident Robin Reed Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 50%

Tone of book - humorous or laughable
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - sensitive ET visits Earth ("phone home!")
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - search for identity/new understanding
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group
Intense exploration of society's culture? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male Alien
Profession/status: - actor
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - infantry soldier
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Dumb
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Monument by Lloyd Biggle Jr.

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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