In Search of Frankenstein: Exploring the Myths Behind Mary Shelley's Monster

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but no In Search of Dracula
Review: The author was at a considerable disadvantage when he went in search of Frankenstein - there is no one historical figure who corresponds to Victor Frankenstein the way Vlad Tepes corresponds to Dracula.

He solves this quandry by spending most of the book in search of Mary Shelley's travel itinerary instead, which can be interesting, but also as dreadfully boring and stuffy as any early English travelogue. Celebrity gossip about Percy and Byron is used to fill in extra pages - again interesting, but not what the cover promised.

Overall, this was not the book I'd hoped for, a book that explores the history of the mad scientist concept as thoroughly as the vampire has been covered. It may still be worth reading, but only if you know what you're getting into.

Rating:
Summary: Call it a 2.5 rounded up
Review: This is a very well researched book, but not what I expected. I went into it thinking it would be like the "In Search of Dracula"
book(s) by the same author and it is not. It basically delves into Mary Shelly's past and tries to disprove that the book and the title came to her in a dream vs. her actually just putting together local folklore. I don't quite know if the author is trying to accuse her of plagarism or what but it is not a book like his Dracula non fiction works. If you are interested in delving into a writers pysche and possibly finding how a very popular story came about then this book is for you. If you want to know about the Frankenstein family in depth as he did Dracula, this book is not for you.