I chose this book because I read it about three times before in both Dutch and English. It seemed like a very good book for my speech. I also chose this one, because I’ve read more books by this author and I like his writings. He writes both interesting and exciting stories.

Something about the author:
Ira Levin was born in New York City on August 27, 1929 He was educated at Drake University in Des Moines (1946-1948) and at New York University ( 1949-1950). He served in the United States Army Signal Corps from 1953- 1955. Ira Levin was married twice and has three sons.
Ira Levin sticks to the idea of seldom giving interviews and the same goes for his books: he doesn’t write without an immediate cause. But the books he did write became world best-sellers: In 1953 he published A Kiss Before Dying, for which he received the Edgar Allan Poe Award . His second novel was Rosemary's Baby, published in 1967. His third novel, This Perfect Day, was published in 1970. The Stepford Wives was his fourth novel and appeared in 1972. The Boys from Brazil is Levin's last novel until now and it was published in 1976.
Apart from his novels, Ira Levin has written nine plays, like Dr. Cook's Garden ( 1967 ) and Break a Leg (1979).
Levin chose for a female character as a main character because he thought that it would be better than using a male character because they always have to solve their problems with heroic actions and he didn’t want it to be a heroic book, because it has to be some kind of complaint to the current society.


Theme: How far can anyone be allowed to make video recordings about people who are not aware of the fact? Ira Levin skilfully exploits the horror of one of the reader’s deepest elementary fears: being watched by unseen eyes.
Sliver is a thriller about a female victim of a voyeuristic obsession ending in a chain of murders. It is also about the dangers of being addicted to watching television. (He also uses female victims in his books The Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby)

The title:
A Sliver is a modern, high tech apartment building rooted on a narrow lot, soaring high over Manhattan’s smart Upper East Side. On purpose Levin uses expressions like sliver of ice, sliver of glass, sliver of life throughout the book.

Main Characters:
Kay Norris, a 39-year-old divorced woman
Sam Yale, co-tenant of the sliver at 1300 Madison Avenue
Peter Henderson, 26, co-tenant and owner of the sliver
Hubert “Rocky” Sheer, co-tenant, the hooded jogger and writer
Roxie, June and Norman of Diadem Publishing House

Summary:
Part one
Kay Norris has decided to leave Jeff after two years. She applies to become a tenant at 1300 Madison Ave. She is accepted and cleared very quickly and moves into 20B with her cat Felice. The apartments are large, light and modern, with Art Deco dish lamps on each ceiling. As she is settling she meets some of het co-tenants in the lobby. There is a silent hooded jogger, and charming young Peter Henderson, and Mrs MacEvoy the caretaker. All the time someone inside the building is watching her –and all the rooms in the sliver- on two large monitors.

At the nearest supermarket she gets to know Sam Yale, from 3B. She is certain she has heard or read his name before. Kay has seen one of his productions featuring Thea Marshall, an actress who tragically died as she fell down the stairs at the age of 40. Kay remembers her because people always tell her that she looks like Thea. Sam admits Kay looks a lot like Thea, even the vocals.

Her first night alone in the new apartment annoys her. She eases the tension masturbating in a hot bath. The secret watcher behind his monitor does the same. He also recognises her Thea Marshall looks and he decides he will have to avoid her.

The Grill Room at The Four Seasons is a haunt for publishers, editors and writers. Kay lunches there with Jack Mulligan, one of her authors, and she recognises the silent hooded jogger. He has a fractured ankle. Jack tells her his name is Hubert Sheer, ‘Rocky’ to close friends. He wrote a successful book about computers making everyone vulnerable to all kinds of disaster. He has recently agreed to do another book about influence of television, discussing every aspect of it such as camcorders, suveillance cameras anc VCR. He has taken a crash course in Japanese because he is going to...








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