THE SIMULTANEOUS MAN by Ralph Blum. 238 pages. Atlantic-Little, Brown. $5.95.
What would serious writers do without their dualities, their paradoxes of mind and body, the I and Thou all so neatly parsed in the head yet so hopelessly entwined in the heart? What would reviewers do without such items to explain?
In the case of Ralph Blum's The Simultaneous Man, most of the items in question fit snugly enough into a compelling plot designed to dissuade the itchy finger of exegesis. The book is at once a superior science-fiction story, a polished exercise in literary styles and a deeply personal moral statement.
Identity...