Preternatural Book

Preternatural, a remarkably ambitious and complicated tale, is a complex and multi-layered work. The book is at once concerned with aliens, identity, and mind control, while at the same time, it explores the conventions and practices of the science fiction genre itself. The protagonist is Karen, a woman writing a science fiction book called Preternatural (this is just the beginning of the double-helix world Bonanno has created) about an alien presence known as the Common Mind. But as Karen creates her story, she begins to suspect that the voices that prompt her story may in fact belong to the Common Mind, and it is humankind who is actually being inscribed by the aliens she thought she had invented. Karen finds others who share her experience: individuals who think they have been contacted by the Common Mind and are left uncertain about their own identity. A strikingly large number of these contactees are in show business, where the roles they have created in the fantasy world of Hollywood have become intertwined with their sense of self. Bonanno's book is amusing and deliciously puzzling. The trip she provides is well worth taking.Read More