The Whenabouts of Burr

by Michael Kurland

Book by Michael Kurland

Genres: Science Fiction, Alternate History, Fiction

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

aka Jennifer Plum

Michael Kurland has written many non-fiction books on a vast array of topics, including How to Solve a Murder, as well as many novels. Twice a finalist for the Edgar Award (once for The Infernal Device) given by the Mystery Writers of America, Kurland is perhaps best known for his novels about Professor Moriarty. He lives in Petaluma, California.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 2 out of 5]

DAW Collectors #157

Cover Artist:Kelly Freas

Name: Kurland, Michael Joseph, Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA, 01 March 1938.

This is an alternate US history novel. "THE WHENABOUTS OF BURR" Is a hunt through all the alternate-universe Americas that might have been, with Alexander Hamilton to point the way.

Michael Kurland is the recipient of two Edgars and was nominated for an American Book Award for his first Moriarty novel, "The Infernal Device".

Thi was not my cup of tea,

[Snakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed like it’d be a rollicking mystery across time when the Constitution is found unmolested in its display case and Alexander Hamilton’s signature has been substituted with Aaron Burr’s, but as the investigators became part of the time travel narrative, the mystery became more prosaic and banal, and the conclusion was down right ridiculous. Not nearly as captivating as I was expecting.

[Patrick Scheele · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half has a nice Holmes-and-Watson feel to it. That's not surprising, considering the author wrote a lot of books relating to Sherlock Holmes. There was also a lot of gentle humor in there, some of which may have gone over my head, but I enjoyed what I understood.

The book loses focus in the second half. It became more about describing strange worlds than solving the mystery. Although I liked how the main characters eventually got the missing constitution back, I was annoyed by a couple of things in the ending:


1. The biggest part of the mystery was how the constitutions were switched. The answer: there's a device that does that. That's a horrible cop-out and very unsatisfying.

2. The whole parallel worlds thing with lots of running around and meeting Hamilton and Burr was fun, but it didn't do anything to solve the mystery.

3. The Russian lady was obviously set up as a love interest. There's definite flirting going on there. That made it jarring that she suddenly only had eyes for Burr anymore and disappeared from the story. Realistic, sure, but I don't want to read that particular kind of realism in books!


I don't regret reading this book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is about travel between parallel universes with divergent histories. The book includes Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, and references to their rivalry. This may attract the interest of fans of the play Hamilton. (The book was written decades before the play.) You should be aware that Hamilton and Burr are secondary characters, and the story doesn't depict either in a late 1700's / early 1800's setting.

I had thought the parallel universes would show alternative early-US configurations - perhaps, a failure to ratify the Constitution, or Washington taking additional terms as president, or such. The variants we see are actually an Orwellian late 1800's, a WWII with US and German troops battling on the East Coast, etc.

Sticklers for internal consistency may find some issues.

[Sarah Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The constitution has been substituted, in an indefinite future to 1975! Aaron Burr, rather than Alexander Hamilton, is the signatory from New York. Protagonists plunge into a complicated plot centered around alternate realities, among which the duel between Burr and Hamilton is a major vector. Kurland confesses in introduction that he never did much care for Hamilton.

[Bruce Lahr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read

I read Burr. I finished the book because I like the author. Silly is too harsh a word. Would disjointed be adequate ? It felt like the parts of the book (the Its) were sewn together. I felt like the seems were too rough even for my callused brain

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

In its tepid, PG-rated fashion it IS entertaining, but only if you are feeling too braindead to comprehend anything vaguely intelligent. Did Kurland ever write a GOOD novel? From what I've read, the answer is no.

[Beth Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally enjoyable fluff, though the plot is all over the place and can't decide if it's a real mystery or broad comedy. Mostly a nostalgia read for me because I've enjoyed other books by the author.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, light American alternative history/mystery read with token appearances by Burr and Hamilton, however no hip-hop ;)

[Scott Nieradka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap. Miserable crap. An utterly pointless time-travel alternate history wankfest (my favorite! not.) with as much subtlety as a cold spam sandwich. Look okay, our heroes, the secret agents as usual, are a private investigator and a former member of coast guard security who was assigned to the office of weight and measures to be the presidents fireman in disguise, cause the FBI would never expect it or something dumb. Apparently, the constitution was stolen and replaced with a copy with aaron burr's john hancock instead of alexander hamilton's. Now from the cover we all know its extra-dimensional time wankers, but we are forced to sit through a third of the book in lame exposition before we get there when they fall through a turkish bath into narnia, or rather alternate earth no. 1 (of a handful). Now the sad thing is that is the best third of the book.

The rest is chasing Mr Hamilton and Mr Burr around a handful of lame earths. See, apparently Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr's duel is, for no explained reason, the nexus of all time lines which diverge from that point (some of which include alien invasion, cause that is a direct effect of who got shot.). Someone built devices that can teleport you from fixed locations between time lines. Most of which have the founding fathers cruising around in them for fun and profit, along with one unexplained painful stereotype of a russian countess secret agent. Needless to say the politics in the book are as blunt as a rawhide hammer, a rawhide hammer beating you senseless over the head till you don’t understand what he was trying to get at anyway, but you have a sneaking suspicion it wasn't good.

Now you'd expect some sort of confrontation between Mr. Hamiliton and Mr. Burr, or an infinite number of them, but gentle reader you are being too charitable. No, it seems Kurland realized he had 1000 words to go, and had idled away the previous 60k without accomplishing anything, so the book just sort of nonchalantly wraps up the original plot and ends anticlimactically, to say the least. Bleck. Bleck. Bleck.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel between alternate time lines to find one with the constitutions signed by Burr. Agents must find their own copy.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK alternate history from the 1970's.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time travel - mystery - confusing - some interesting ideas and situations but the author seemed to be hurried in his writing.

[Stig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny and enjoyable romp through the space-time continuum to find a missing copy of the US Constitution.