| Researcher | Author: Title | |
| Elizabeth Bass | Crichton, Michael: Disclosure | |
| Assignment 1: Bibliographic Description | ||
| 1. First Edition Publication Information | PUBLISHER: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (A Borzoi Book) Copyright @1993 by Michael Crichton Published in New York and simlutaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, in Toronto. "A signed first edition of this book has been privately printed by The Franklin Library." | |
| 2. First Edition in Cloth, Paper, or Both? | First Edition published in Cloth. Printed and bound by The Haddon Craftsmen, Scranton, Pennsylvania | |
| 3. Image of Cover Art | A1319980202154141.jpg | |
| 4. Pagination | Pages 1-403 Every other page is numbered; no page number on Chapter pages. There are 13 leaves. Source consulted: Philip Gaskell. A New Introduction to Bibliography (Oxford, UP 1972). pages 325, 332 | |
| 5. Edited and/or Introduced? | None | |
| 6. Illustrated? | No illustrations | |
| 8. General Appearance | The General Appearance of the book is good. The typopgraphy is very readable; the physical presentation of the text has an atttractive layout. The cover and binding is very simple and effective. The book is very well printed and easy to read. | |
| 9. Image of Sample Chapter Page | A1919980202154141.jpg | |
| 10. Description of Paper | Heavyweight, ivory-colored paper. | |
| 11. Description of Binding | The binding has been glued. It has held up very well. The cover has a glossy texture; the covers are white with red type. The spine of the book is red with white type. This copy is in very good condition. | |
| 12. Title Page Transcription | DISCLOSURE| A NOVEL BY| MICHAEL CRICHTON| [rule 10.5 cm]| [Knopf insignia .5cm]| ALFRED A. KNOPF NEW YORK 1994| Source consulted: Philip Gaskell. A New Introduction to Bibliography (Oxford UP, 1972) pages 325, 332 | |
| 13. Image of Title Page | A11319980202154141.jpg | |
| 14. Manuscript Holdings | None available Source consulted: VIRGO | |
| 15. Other | The last page of the book reads: "A NOTE ON THE TYPE This book was set in a digitized version of Janson. The hot-metal version of Janson was a recutting made direct from type cast from matrices long thought to have been made by the Dutchman Anton Janson, who was a practicing type founder in Leipzig during the years 1688-1687. However, it has been conclusively demonstrated that these types are actually the work of Nicholas Kis (1650-1702), a Hungarian who most probably learned his trade from the master Dutch type founder Dirk Voskens. This type is an excellent example of the infulential and sturdy Dutch types that prevailed in England up to the time William Caslon (1692-1766) developed his own incomparable designs from them." | |
| Assignment 2: Publication History | ||
| 1. Other Editions: | The original publisher, A.A.Knopf, also published a Large Print Book Club edition. Disclosure, by Michael Crichton. A.A. Knopf: New York 1993 753 p.; 22 cm Cover and type is the same as the 1st edition. | |
| 5. Editions from other publishers? | Two Complete Novels: Disclosure and Rising Sun. Publisher: Wings Books: New York Year: 1996 Format: 646 p., 25 cm --- Reader's Digest Condensed Books, Volume 5 Edition: 1st Publisher: Reader's Digest Association: Pleasantville, NY Year: 1994 Works included: Daybreak by Belva Plain; Disclosure by Michael Crichton; St.Agnes'Stand by Tom Eidson The Fist of God by Frederick Forsyth --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Large Print Edition Publisher: Chivers Press: Bath, England Year: 1994 Format: 464p., 24 cm --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Publisher: Arrow: London Year: 1994 Format: 454 p., 18 cm (pbk) --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Edition: Signed 1st edition Publisher: Franklin Library: Franklin Center, PA Year: 1993 Format: 397 p., 25 cm --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Edition: 1st U.S. Ballantine Books Edition Publisher: Ballantine Books: New York Year: 1994 Format: 497 p., 18 cm (pbk) --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Publisher: Century: London Year: 1994 Format: 397 p. --- Disclosure by Michael Crichton. Edition: 1st Braille edition Publisher: Random House Large Print: New York Year: 1994 Format: Braille, 762 p. Note: Part of the Braille Transcription Project of Santa Clara County in San Jose, CA | |
| 6. Last date in print? | Ballantine Books, Inc.: June 1997 Tenth printing | |
| 7. Total copies sold? | Will update when information is received | |
| 8. Sales by year? | Will update when information is received | |
| 9. Advertising copy: | None available | |
| 11. Other promotion? | Book Reviews in New York Times January 5, 1994 Section C, page 12 "Sex, Power and a Workplace Reversal: Michael Crichton contemplates harrassment, as done by a woman." Promotional article in New York Times January 6 Section C, page 2 "Scarier Than Dinosaurs: Men vs. Women" by Bernard Weinraub | |
| 12. Performances in other media? | Media: Audiovisual Publisher: Warner Home Video: Burbank, CA Year: 1995 Format: 2 videodiscs (129 min.): sd., col; 12in. Originally released as a motion picture in 1994. Based on novel by Michael Crichton. Executive producer: Peter Giuiliano Producer: Barry Levinson, Michael Crichton Director: Barry Levinson Screenplay: Paul Attanasio Photography: Anthony Pierce-Roberts Music: Ennio Morricon Starring: Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, Donald Sutherland, Caroline Goodard, and Dennis Miller --- Media: Audio Publisher: Randon House Audiobooks: New York Edition: Abridged Year: 1993 Format: 4 sound cassettes (ca. 4 hrs) Dolby processed Read by John Lithgow | |
| 13. Translations? | FRENCH TRANSLATION: Harcelement. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Rober Laffont: Paris Year: 1993 Format: 512 p., 18 cm Series: Pocket Series --- FRENCH TRANSLATION: Harcelement. Michael Crichton. Publisher: France Loisirs: Paris Year: 1994 Format: 506 p., 21 cm --- SPANISH TRANSLATION: Acoso. Michael Crichton. Edition: "2a ed. in esta coleccion" Publisher: Plaza & Janes Editores: Barcelona Year: 1995 Format: 408 p., 18cm Series: Biblioteca de Michael Crichton, Jet de Plaza & Janes; 202/7 --- SPANISH TRANSLATION: Acoso. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Emece: Buenos Aires Year: 1994 Format: 362 p., 22 cm Series: Grandes Novelistas --- HUNGARIAN TRANSLATION: Zaklatas. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Maecenas: Budapest Year: 1994 Format: 441 p., 20 cm --- PORTUGESE TRANSLATION: Revelacao. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Difusao Cultural: Lisboa Year: 1995 Format: 430 p., 23 cm --- POLISH TRANSLATION: System. Michael Crichton. Edition : Wyd. 1 Publisher: Amber: Warszawa Year: 1994 Format: 478 p., 21 cm Series: Srebrna seria --- CHINESE TRANSLATION: T'ao se chi mi. Michael Crichton. Edition: Ti 1 pan Publisher: Ch'ing chou ch'u pan she: T'ai-pei shih Year: 1994 Format: 570p., (8)p. of plates: col.ill.;21 cm --- HEBREW TRANSLATION: Hasifah. Michael Crichton Publisher: Sofriyat Ma'ariv Year: 1994 Format: 480 p., 22 cm --- KOREAN TRANSLATION: P'ongno. Michael Crichton. Edition: Ch'op'an Publisher: Yong him K'adino: Seoul Year: 1994 --- RUSSIAN TRANSLATION: Razoblachenie. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Vagrius: Moskva Year: 1994 Format: 573 p., 21 cm Series: Domino --- JAPANESE TRANSLATION: Disukuroja. Michael Crichton. Published: Hayakawa Shobo: Tokyo Year: 1993 Format: 484 p., 20 cm --- GERMAN TRANSLATION: Enthullung. Michael Crichton. Publisher: Droemer Knaur: Munchen Year: 1994 Format: 527 p., 22 cm --- ITALIAN TRANSLATION: Rivelazioni. Michael Crichton. Edition: 1st Publisher: Garzanti: Milani Format: 459 p., 22 cm Series: Narratori moderni | |
| 14. Serialization? | n/a Source: World Cat, Advanced Search | |
| 15. Sequels or Prequels? | n/a Source: World Cat, Advanced Search | |
| Assignment 3: Brief Biography | ||
| John Michael Crichton, an American writer and filmmaker, was born on October 23, 1942, in Chicago Illinois, the son of John Henderson Crichton and Zula Miller Crichton. He is the oldest of four children, and became interested at an early age in writing, studying diverse things, and learning about his culture. He enrolled in Harvard College in 1960, began studying English Literature, but when a professor criticized his writing, he switched his major to anthropology. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1964, and received a fellowship from Cambridge in England, where he taught anthropology for a year. Then, he went back to Harvard for medical school in 1966. Crichton was fourteen years old at the time of his first publication--he wrote a travel article that was published in the New York Times. His writing career really took off, however, when he was supporting himself through medical school. He published eight paperback adventure novels under the pseudonym John Lange. He also published a medical detective novel, "A Case of Need," under the name Jeffrey Hudson. In 1969, he graduated from medical school, decided to become an author instead of a physician, and moved to La Jolla, CA. His other publications include "The Andromeda Strain"(1969), "The Terminal Man"(1972), "The Great Train Robbery"(1975), "Congo"(1980), "Sphere: A Novel"(1987), "Jurassic Parl"(1990), "Rising Sun"(1992), and many others. In addition to his successes as a best-selling author, Crichton has made considerable contributions to the film world. His first Hollywod film, which he adapted from his own script and directed, was "Westworld" in 1973. He continued to write screenplays, direct and produce many full-length films and made-for-TV movies. He told a reporter in the early '90s that he "intends to focus on writing film-worthy novels and drafting screenplays that give his literary ideas a distinctive cinematic shape." Michael Crichton has been married four times (three ending in divorce), and currently lives in Santa Monica, CA with his wife, Ann-Marie Martin and their daughter Taylor. He can be contacted by writing c/o Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 201 E. 50th St. New York, NY 10022 | ||
| Assignment 4 | ||
| Contemporary Reception: | ||
| Disclosure received a substantial amount of negative cirticism after its publication in January of 1994. Crichton's story of role reversal sexual harrassment in the office have all of the typical elements of abuse of power and battle of the sexes, yet most critics claim that that it does not deal with this issue seriously. In a two-part review in the Los Angeles Times Book Review called "From Dinophobia to Gynephobia: He said..." John Schulian speaks unfavorably about the characterization: "It is nothing more than Crichton's unwitting confession that the modern woman plays too rough for him." In the "She said..." part of the review, Patt Morrison also criticizes Crichton's stereotyped "cast of cartoons" for characters, yet she applauds him role-reversing plot and how he succeeded in making the struggle for power not just a woman's problem. Reviewers also attack Crichton's high-tech jargon, which comes from the story's setting in a corporate computer technology firm and his attempts to condense a huge subject and conflict into five day's worth of plot. In a more obscure review from New Statesman & Society, a month after publication, Douglas Kennedy writes an unfavorable review that claims, "The novel eventually becomes a corporate conspiracy yarn. It lacks the energy of a good thriller, let alone the passionate anger of Crichton's anti-Japanese homily, Rising Sun." In general, the critical reception of Disclosure was negative. The majority of reviews cite poorly developed characters and plot, and a haphazard treatment of the issue of sexual harrassment as its biggest flaws. Overall, the popularity of the novel, which secured it on the bestsellers list, seems to be due to Crichton's overwhelming fame in recent years, and not the quality of the book. REVIEW LIST:Christian Science Monitor, 86:13, January 27, 1994 Armchair Detective, 27:328, Summer, 1994 Business Week, p.16, January 31, 1994 Entertainment Weekly, p. 46, January 21, 1994 Fortune, 129:108, February 21, 1994 Guardian Weekly, 150:28, February 6, 1994 Los Angeles Times Book Review, Januray 16, 1994 National Review, vol. 46, February 21, 1994 New York Magazine, vol. 27, January 24, 1994 New York Times Book Review, p.7, January 23, 1994 New Statesman & Society, 7:49, February 4, 1994 Newsweek, 123:52, January 17, 1994 New Yorker, 69:99, February 7, 1994 Observer (London), p. 19, January 30, 1994 Rapport: Modern Guide to Books and Movies, vol. 18, January 1994 School Library Journal, vol. 40, May 1994 Spectator, 272:25, January 22, 1994 Time, 143:52, January 10, 1994 Times Literary Supplement, February 18, 1994 Tribune Books, p.3, January 16, 1994 Wall Street Journal, vol. 223, January 13, 1994 Yale Review, 82:121, October, 1994 Armchair Detective, Spring 1995 Entertainment Weekly, January 13, 1995 Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Books, 29:6, January 1995 | ||
| Subsequent Reception: | ||
| n/a | ||
| Assignment 5 | ||
| Critical Essay: | ||
| Disclosure by Michael Crichton is a story of power--the power of technology, the power of money, and the power of the sexes. Readers are drawn to its fast-paced tales of the workplace, and the controversy and drama of the relationships between the characters. These aspects that draw a best-selling audience among the readers, however, are the very same things that the reviewers criticize the most. Disclosure was published in 1993, and on the bestseller list in January of 1994. It has been translated into 12 different languages and has been published in several different forms and medias. While it may not have had a sustained success in the world of literary criticism, it has found its way to the center of the contemporary fiction audience. There are several factors to attribute to its success, from the timeliness of the subject matter to the general popularity of the author. This essay will attempt to convey what exactly has made Disclosure a bestseller. First, the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace is a hot topic in today's modern society. From cases involving political figures and their secretaries, to college professors and students, sexual harassment has become an issue that the American public can identify with, because of its timeliness. The difference in Crichton's novel, however, is the role reversal among the sexes--this time, the aggressor is the woman, and the victim is the man. The setting is Seattle, Washington, and Tom Sanders is an executive at Digicom, a high-tech computer communications firm. His company is in the middle of an important corporate merger at the beginning of the book, and Tom is expecting a promotion. Meredith Johnson is not only Tom's nemesis but his former girlfriend, and she is the one who actually receives his promotion. Their relationship gets complicated when she plans a "meeting" with him, and proceeds to seduce him and make aggressive sexual advances. When Tom stops her, she turns into a manipulative, deceitful, power-hungry woman, and turns on him. He is faced with her accusations of sexual harassment the next day, which she has spread around the office, and the story continues. Reviewers praise this treatment of the subject, because it challenges the reader to think about sexual harassment in a new light. In his 1994 review, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt claims, "The author wants us to know that while only 5 percent of sexual harassment suits are brought by men against women, only 5 percent of corporate supervisors are women. As Ms. Fernandez [a character in the novel] concludes: ‘So the figures suggest that women executives harass men in the same proportion as men harass women. And as more women get corporate jobs, the percentage of claims by men is going up. Because the fact is, harassment is a power issue. And power is neither male nor female'" (New York Times, Jan. 6 1994). It is a unique twist when the reader finds himself cheering for Tom, the victim. In his after word, Crichton himself writes, "The advantage of a role reversal story is that it may enable us to examine aspects concealed by traditional responses and conventional rhetoric." While it may have been a gimmick, it worked. It got people's attention, and it put the disconcerting social issues into a novel for mass consumption. Secondly, the popularity of the movie version of Disclosure is worth recognizing. Released in 1995, a year after the publication, the movie received good reviews. It was starring Demi Moore, Michael Douglas, and Donald Sutherland, and had all of the right pulls--big name stars, a literary basis, and an explosive subject matter. Part of the reason the book remained popular, despite its fair share of negative reviews, was because of the release of the movie. It did not have drastic consequences, such as cause book sales to skyrocket, but it helped to keep Disclosure in the public eye. Finally, the overall public persona of Michael Crichton had a definite effect on the novel's success. He is well-respected and known for his science fiction and imaginative plots. He had already published over twenty novels and screenplays at the time of Disclosure's release, and it came on the coattails of novels like Jurassic Park and Rising Sun. Many of his works had been made into movies already. In fact, some critics say that he was a better screen playwright then a novelist. Nevertheless, Crichton has an effective way of identifying and disseminating current political and social concerns through his works. According to Contemporary Literary Criticism's reception report, "Crichton's concise prose style and tightly organized plots continue to make his works popular" (1994). Crichton is also a very intellectual, worldly writer. His knowledge, for example, of high-tech computer communications and the accompanying jargon make Disclosure more believable. The reader can tell that the author has first-hand knowledge on the subject, and therefore he has a lot of credibility. Michael Crichton became a household name very quickly, and novels such as Disclosure have definitely benefitted from his name and association. Disclosure provides a new perspective on sexual harassment in the office. It examines the ins and outs of a corporate power struggle, and pits one character against another. And it does all of this in a fast-paced story that keeps the reader interested and up-to-date. Crichton succeeded in creating a refreshing change from the norm, and the response proves that there is merit in providing the reader with a new challenge. | ||
Bestsellers
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