About book The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything (1985)
Having never read anything previously by renowned author John D. MacDonald, I discovered his 1962 paperback "The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything" after reading about it in David Pringle's excellent overview volume "Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels." Writing about the novel in that volume, the British critic tells us that it is "an amusing romp," and MacDonald's "only full-length fantasy." There may perhaps be many readers who are surprised to hear of MacDonald being mentioned in the same sentence as the word "fantasy"; after all, he is an author more well known for almost 50 hard-boiled crime thrillers, not counting the 21-book series featuring his most famous character, Florida-based private investigator Travis McGee, which started in 1964. But in truth, MacDonald was, early in his career, a prodigious creator of sci-fi tales; between 1948 and '53, he penned almost 50 sci-fi short stories and two novels, "Wine of the Dreamers" and "Ballroom of the Skies." Still, as his only out-and-out fantasy, "TGTGWAE" should be of especial interest to his loyal fans.In the book, we meet an interesting nebbish named Kirby Winters. At 32 years old, Kirby has had only one (disastrous) sexual encounter in his life. When we first meet him, his wealthy Uncle Omar has just passed away. Kirby had spent the previous 11 years traveling around the world and giving away around $27 million of his scientist uncle's money to undocumented charities, and now the IRS wants to know where the money has gone, as do the heads of Omar's corporation AND various criminal elements. To make matters worse for Kirby, his only inheritance from Omar turns out to be the gold watch of the title. But what a watch it is! With it, as Kirby soon learns (CAUTION: SPOILER AHEAD!), he is able to effectively stop time for one subjective hour, causing the universe to enter a red-lit stasis; in this stalled world, one hour of subjective time is equal to only 3/100 of a second! Imagine the possibilities for both mischief and personal gain! An "amusing romp" it surely is!In actuality, the novel is a fantasy in more ways than one. It is a science fantasy (or what H.G. Wells used to call a "scientific romance"; Wells, by the way, as Pringle reminds us, wrote a hoot of a story called "The New Accelerator" in 1901 with a similar plot device) in which a miraculous gadget is created. It is also, most assuredly, a sex fantasy. In the novel, Kirby must deal with no less than four very sexual women: Charla Maria Markopoulo O'Rourke, an international criminal, as well as her gang; Betsy Alden, her blonde, hot-tempered niece; Wilma Farnham, Uncle Omar's prudish but lusty assistant; and finally, the "girl" of the book's title, 19-year-old Bonny Lee Beaumont, a backwoods Carolina stripper who initiates Kirby into the world of sex, thrills and fun. The book also strikes the reader as a wish-fulfillment fantasy and a revenge fantasy; indeed, the ability to make time stand practically still confers almost God-like powers on the increasingly self-assured Kirby Winters."The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything" is a terrific read, filled as it is with interesting characters, great imagination (MacDonald constantly surprises us with how thoroughly he has thought out the ramifications of making time stand still), many amusing lines and even some tough action sequences. Though the central plot device of time stasis is hardly an original one (besides that Wells story, as "The Science Fiction Encyclopedia" mentions, we must not forget the 1923 film by Rene Clair, "Paris Qui Dort," in which Paris is accidentally frozen in time by a scientist), MacDonald gives it a fresh spin, combining it with a crime thriller and a comedy. Despite a few missteps (for example, early in the book, it is stated that Kirby's single sexual encounter had taken place 12 years earler, but 100 pages later, it is said to have been 13; in one section, Kirby's lawyer is sitting at his left at a conference table, but two pages later, is said to be at his right), this is a perfectly entertaining novel that should prove pleasing to just about everyone. And really, how can any novel that discusses Ann (sic) Francis' "Twilight Zone" episode "The After Hours" be all bad?
MacDonald's themes remain consistent--the need for men to be bold and decisive, but morally attuned to others, even the scummiest villains; the healing powers of robust, guilt-free sex; the understanding that value of money lies only in how it can help one use well the short time we have; the presence of people who don't know that, and just want money, and who have no moral qualms about hurting others to get it, and the need to fight those guys. Those are the truths by which Travis McGee lives, of course. Here the hero starts off much less McGee-like--a wimp, afraid of women, uncertain of who he is, and therefore open to being used and abused by the scummy villains. But he is saved by a life force embodied in a 20 year old woman, and they manage to use the gift the hero inherits to live a full, rich life. And deal with all those scummy villains.Who would have thought MacDonald, the master of gritty crime fiction, would have this kind of penchant for goofy fantasy? Did Nicholson Baker know of this book as he was writing The Fermata? Both have the premise of one guy being able to stop time for others, yet move around in that time-frozen world and do fun stuff--in Baker's case, mostly undress random women. In this one too, though MacDonald's story is more plot driven. It was a sort of a hoot.I'll remember Bonny Lee, the perfect MacDonald cliché--the good-hearted, sexually secure and psychologically uncomplicated woman who makes the world make sense to the poor schmo who has no clue.
Do You like book The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything (1985)?
Having never read anything previously by renowned author John D. MacDonald, I discovered his 1962 paperback The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything after reading about it in David Pringle's excellent overview volume Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels. Writing about the novel in that volume, the British critic tells us that it is "an amusing romp," and MacDonald's "only full-length fantasy." There may perhaps be many readers who are surprised to hear of MacDonald being mentioned in the same sentence as the word "fantasy"; after all, he is an author more well-known for almost 50 hard-boiled crime thrillers, not counting the 21-book series featuring his most famous character, Florida-based private investigator Travis McGee, which started in 1964. But in truth, MacDonald was, early in his ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
—Fantasy Literature
"The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything" centers around Kirby Winters, a man who inherits from his rich uncle an antique watch and a sealed letter that cannot be opened until a year has passed. He quickly finds himself in a heap of trouble and has to rely on strangers and his wit to evade the dangers that present itself due to his inheritance.A book with an uncle with a mysterious past, a nephew who inherits a watch that stops time, and a whole mess of characters and trouble sounded interesting. I had to wait though because the e-book was on hold at the library. After reading it, I could see why.The characters in this book were refreshingly multidimensional. It was difficult to categorize the characters in this book with one label. The author went through extensive details in describing the characters and some of the characters' occupation--sometimes I thought it was too much; other times it was interesting. The plot was alright and moved along at a steady pace. Some of the main characters underwent character development/changes; whereas, others like Bonny Lee and Joseph remained the same.Overall, I thought this book had a nice mix of science fiction, mystery, and diverse characters. Be prepared for a lot of descriptions though. For instance, there was seriously a sentence that comprised a whole paragraph.
—Sunny
Like a lot of people, I was first introduced to this story through the 1980s TV movie with Robert Hayes and Pam Dawber in it. I really liked the movie as a kid, so I grabbed the book and read it, and like that, too.I just recently revisited the book, since it just came out for Kindle, and I still found it to be in my list of my favorite books of all time. The story is fun -- a male twist on a romance story, as Kirby bounces amongst a cast of women, trying to find one that doesn't thoroughly frighten him. It's a fun, comic romp, but reading it again, with adult perspective, I have to say McDonald had some deep moments, too.On relationships, he has Bonny Lee deliver some great commentary:“I love you good , Kirby. And love is a pretty thing. See how fast all worked up we gettin’? That’s the good of it, sugar. Going to bed is happy and it’s fun. It’s the way you get the good of it with none of the bad. It’s like everybody has forgot that’s all it is and all it was ever meant to be. People got to mess it up, it seems. Cryin’, moanin ’, clingin’ onto one another, all jealous and selfish and hateful. We love each other on account of we give each other a lot of happy fun, and if it comes round again, we’ll take some more, and if it doesn’t, we got this much already anyhow. But no vows and pledges and crap like that,hear? That’s what people do because they got the funny idea it’s the right thing to do. And before they know it, the fun part is gone, gotten itself strangled on the fine print, like it was a deed to some land. I live free and simple, Kirby, and I look on myself in the mirror and say hello to a friend I like. The day I stop liking her, I change my ways. So this is who loves you, and that’s what the word means, and I got friends would die for me and me for them. What I say , you run onto a hell of a girl.”I also love what he has to say about the morality of using the magical gold watch (ok, spoiler, but the book is really old).And he would have lost one of the most precious attributes of this unique ability to make time stand still— the additive of wry mischief, of ironic joy. Bonny Lee had understood that instinctively. Murder would have turned the watch into a perpetual solemnity and a perpetual guilt— because, regardless of provocation, the owner of the watch was beyond the need to kill.There are a lot of storytellers out there who could learn the lesson above.Still one of my favorite books of all time! Check it out if you're into realistic fantasy.
—Keith Gapinski
