cover image Faraday's Popcorn Factory

Faraday's Popcorn Factory

Sandra Lee Gould. St. Martin's Press, $23.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-312-18578-7

A man descended from heaven--literally--embodies the fairy-tale premise of Gould's goofy, feel-good debut, which employs a storm of meteorological and astronomical references to buttress an otherwise flimsy love story. After zooming through ""asteroid belts and busy meteor swarms,"" space-traveler Clement looks down at Earth--more specifically Good Sky, Ohio--and spies Willow, a young woman who works in a popcorn factory. Deciding he must meet her, Clement takes human form and courts the aloof, kernel-popping beauty. His dandified oddness soon beguiles her, and new love allows Willow to overcome previous heartbreak at the hands of mortal men. Clement puts off her questions about his background (a rather odd ""twist"" is that Clement's mother is the life force responsible for tornadoes), but Willow sticks it out. Not all readers will stick it out with her, since our curiosity over Clement's origins wanes long before they are fully revealed. Although the main characters, including Clement, are black, this fabulistic tale transcends color in the manner--albeit without quite enough of the fun--of the work of Tom Robbins or Douglas Adams. Author tour. (June)