Three by Finney

The skeleton of the story told by Jack Finney in his 1973 novel Marion's Wall is interesting enough. Married couple Nick and Jan--and their basset hound Al--move in to the second floor of a San Francisco house where, they discover, a silent screen actress by the name of Marion Marsh had once lived. (They find her name painted on the living room wall; hence the book's title.) Marion, a brash blonde with a penchant for risk-taking, had died in a car accident just before she would have made it big: Joan Crawford, in her first role, assumed the part Marion had been cast for and won the accolades that were due her predecessor. Cheated of this glowing future, Marion's ghost, as it turns out, wants to pursue her career in 1970's Hollywood, and she inhabits Jan's body, eventually with the latter's permission, with a view to making her come-back. But what will become of Jan, now that she's sharing her body with a wanton starlet? And how frequently will Nick cheat on his wife with his wife's body? The reader's curiosity about these and other questions may be sufficient to propel him or her to the book's finish line. But getting there is a long slog.Jack Finney, the author of, among other books, the science fiction classics Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Time and Again, is quite capable of writing compelling fiction. And Marion's Wall would have made a good short story. Unfortunately, the book is a short story's worth of material stretched out to fill a novel's worth of pages. The story has not been expanded, as might have been done, through the introduction of subplots and minor characters who make things more difficult for our protagonists. Rather, it was expanded through the accumulation of wholly unnecessary, mind-numbingly uninteresting description. Particularly in the last thirty or so pages of the book, the details come so thick and fast that one reads on just to see how many more inconsequential items the author can paint with such precision. A small example of this comes some twenty pages from the end, when Nick and Jan/Marion are let into a gate by an employee of the mansion they're calling at--a man whose only function in the story is to open that gate and who is never heard from again: "We heard a sound, a rattle, and a man on a bicycle was riding bumpily down the driveway toward us: youngish, bald, and wearing a kind of butler's uniform, though without a coat--black pants with a narrow white stripe down the sides, black and white horizontally striped vest, wing collar, bow tie." Now imagine that virtually every object our heroes come across is described as precisely.If you want to know whether Jan ever gets her body back, or what it's like to bed the ghost of a 1920s starlet, then Marion's Wall is the book for you. But if you want to appreciate Jack Finney's writing and imagination, stick to the classics.Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

I've read several other Jack Finney novels. I think he has a wonderful imagination and terrific style, and I particularly like his dialogue -- witty and natural-sounding.I thought these three stories were of mixed quality: The Woodrow Wilson Dime and Marion's Wall were excellent. The Woodrow Wilson dime is particularly good, examining the many outcomes possible from simple actions. But I thought Finney was slightly less successful with The Night People. His characters were likeable, but ultimately their actions were not believable.That said, though, I would re-emphasize that Finney is a fine writer, and even the weakest novel here is better than many other novelists' work. And the two stronger novels are highly entertaining. And what a bargain -- three Finney works in one volume!

Nothing to dislike...his work is always a wonderful escape especialy in these trying times.

Great item, reliable service. Recommend!

...but if it's like "Time and Again" and "Invasion of The Body Snatchers", I'm sure I'll enjoy it. three times over.

I LOVE this book! I've have read it at least 3 times and have passed it around to my kids who really enjoyed it. Very detailed descriptions of New York city back in the day and along with actual photos of that time makes you feel like you are there. A wonderful wonderful book!

I love all of Jack Finney's books. This is especially delightful, as they are short stories ... so I can always get a quick fix, when I'm craving a good read.

Been waiting for this book to come out in Kindle format. Here it is! Fine stories!

Having written what I consider the greatest time-travel story ever with TIME AND AGAIN, I was intrigued about reading Finney's triple novel brought together in 3 BY FINNEY.The first story THE WOODROW WILSON DIME hits the time-travel ground running, with Ben finding himself switching between alternate universes.The second tale, MARION'S WALL, finds Nic's wife possessed by a twenties screen queen, with hilarious results.The final story - THE NIGHT PEOPLE - shows two couples the wonders (and dangers) of messing around in the dark, quiet streets at night.Three very different stories, all of which leaves you pretty satisfied that you've experienced something quite unusual, yet substantial enough and written cleverly enough for the reader to go along with the journey and actually believe that they're happening.

Wonderful book in excellent condition-- excellent price too. I like it so much that when I saw another copy at a university booksale I talked a total stranger into buying it I've had books that I couldn't put down before, but not one that gave me an accelerated heart rate at the same time. A literally thrilling book.

Not his best work but still captivating. Very descriptive author.