Adventures of the Artificial Woman by Thomas Berger

Published by Simon & Schuster on April 27, 2004

This thin novel skates into a guarded recommendation because of its amusement value.  Ellery Pierce makes robotic contraptions that a movie like Jurassic Park might use.  Having had little luck with women, he uses his talent (and workshop) to craft one of his own design.  Perhaps he made her too well, because she has little use for him while pursuing a fleeting career in Hollywood (rising to the pinnacle before crashing to the soaps) and then running for the presidency, on a write-in ballot no less.

The concept of an artificial partner, designed to give the creator what he (or she) wants without all the hassle of an actual human being, has a certain comic appeal,.  The robot rejects the creator's dominion, behaves with vexing independence ... a cute but unoriginal concept.  Unfortunately, Thomas Berger does nothing new or meaningful with the idea; worse, he makes the artificial woman into a political bimbo, a robotic Chauncey Gardiner.  At its best moments, the novel delivers some chuckles; it aggressively fails to do anything else.  A novel like this could illustrate the superficiality of basing judgment on appearance or offer insight into relationships between real men and women.  Berger instead opted for a simple, unimaginative story that is intermittently funny.  Take it for what it is if you choose to take it at all.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS