Half Life (novel)

Infobox Book
name = Half Life
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Shelley Jackson
illustrator =
cover_artist = Jacket design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
country = United States
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Novel, alternate history
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = July 25, 2006
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
pages = 440 pp (first edition, hardcover)
isbn = ISBN 978-0-06-088235-8 (first edition, hardcover)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Half Life" is the 2006 debut novel of American writer and artist Shelley Jackson. The novel presupposes an alternate history in which the atomic bomb resulted in a genetic preponderance of conjoined twins, who eventually become a minority subculture. It tells the story of a disenchanted conjoined twin named Nora Olney who plots to have her twin murdered. "Half Life" received mixed-to-positive reviews; "Newsweek" called it "brilliant and funny," [Braiker, Brian. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14377609/site/newsweek/page/0/ "Two Times a Lady"] , Newsweek, 2006-08-16. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.] and "The New York Times", while praising Jackson's ambition as "truly glorious," added that "All this razzle-dazzle, all the allusions, [and] the narrative loop-de-loops [get] a bit busy."D'Erasmo, Stacey. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/books/review/D_Erasmo.t.html?ex=1186113600&en=9ba97761e33a7fe3&ei=5070 "My Sister and Me"] , The New York Times, 2006-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.] It won the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award for science fiction and fantasy.

References