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