The Magic Touch

by Rachel Simon

Born two days after her mother's death, Celeste Kipplebaum Runetoon Kelly discovers she has a preternatural power to heal people through sex, and sets off on a surreal, sublime journey through good, evil, and rock 'n' roll. 10,000 first printing. Tour.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

307 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Rachel Simon is the author of six books.

The Story of Beautiful Girl
The House On Teacher's Lane
Riding The Bus With My Sister
The Writer's Survival Guide
The Magic Touch
Little Nightmares Little Dreams

In 2005, Hallmark Hall of Fame adapted Riding The Bus With My Sister for a film by the same name. It starred Rosie O'Donnell as Rachel's sister Beth and Andie MacDowell as Rachel, and it was directed by Anjelica Huston.

NPR adapted the title story from Little Nightmares, Little Dreams for the program "Selected Shorts," which was also adapted for an episode of the Lifetime program "The Hidden Room." The short story "Paint," from the same book, was adapted for the stage by The Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, PA.

Rachel is one of the only authors to have been selected twice for the Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers Program, once in fiction and once in nonfiction. She has received a Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's Recognition Award from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, for contributions to the field of disability. Among Rachel's other awards have been two creative writing fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts, three creative writing fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and a fiction fellowship from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation.

Rachel Simon went to high school at Solebury School, a small, co-ed boarding school in New Hope, PA. She then attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating with a degree in Anthropology in 1981.

Rachel's jobs have included being a community relations manager at a large bookstore, and a creative writing teacher at several colleges. She now makes her living as a writer and a speaker on topics related to disability.

Rachel Simon lives in Delaware with her husband, the architect Hal Dean.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably one of the strangest books I have read in a long time. The book's protagonist, Celeste, was born two days after her mother died. But then she is placed next to her mother and lo and behold, her mother comes back to life. It turns out that Celeste is a healer and she is able to heal common woes such as the cold and flu simply by touching the afflicted. But then when she reaches puberty, she finds that she has the power to not only heal ailments but to revive the soul of people through sexual healing. So how did she come by this magical power? The novel also tells of her grandmother who has an encounter with a magical being while on a cruise. But that is not all of the story. Celeste is also destined to fight evil and a cabal known as the Matrix and its ungodly leader called the Gacy Guru. So who is this evil person and who is Celeste's father and grandfather?

This all comes to a head in the climax of the story but I must say I really wasn't too enthralled by the whole thing. It was kind of like a fractured fairy tale. I didn't find it erotic nor did I find the storyline compelling. The language used in the novel was also somewhat tedious. Overall, I would just say it was all rather silly.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to say about this. The writing style is definitely unique. There is a rhythmic flow to her writing that is surprisingly easy to fall into. The premises sounded very intriguing: a sexual messiah who heals people...I expected a quirky, fun summer read to entertain me between studying. It was definitely quirky....so quirky that even I (who fails to fit many social norms) found it too off the wall. It was so out there that it came across as nonsense rather than any sort of believable reality. I love fantasy...I can wrap my head around the whole concept of suspension of reality...but this book didn’t pull it off. I think I would have chosen to read a book or two in between my last book and this as well. Reading The Magic Touch, Rant, and Bright shiny Mornings back to back exhausted the writing style of telling a story through snippets from various different people. I felt like I was on an overkill of discombobulated memoirs.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in high-school, I used to steal this book from the library every few months and then secretly return it. I was embarassed to check it out, not so much because the protaganist is a sexual messiah, but because it is written in a magical realism style. I was a snob; I knew I should know better, but I still loved this book...so entertaining.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really interesting to read this early Rachel Simon novel. It's hard to believe that this is the same author who wrote "Riding the Bus with My Sister!" The wit is there, the double entendre, the phrases that make you want to reread them, but the story is just silly. Oh, well.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so engrossing it's hard to put down. Never mind the fact that Rachel is a fellow Bryn Mawrter, this is a must read.