"The Two" is as much a curiosity as its subject [the life of Siamese twins]. The details of the collaboration between Irving Wallace, the novelist, and his daughter [Amy], a literary tyro, are not elucidated, but it seems unlikely that he spent much time on it. The lengthy list of acknowledgments includes Walter Kempthorne, whose "tireless correspondence and interviews, his initiative and persistence as a literary detective, truly made this book possible." Mr. Kempthorne's wife, Elizebethe, is thanked for "scholarship, fact checking and editing." Six other researchers here and abroad are cited by name.

Indeed, the book reads like a series of researchers' reports. The writing is flat, there is no point of view, and instead of a social context there are maddening irrelevancies. For example: The twins make a voyage, and the reader is treated to a minute description of the ship, its owner and his role in maritime commerce.

Chang and Eng, though, remain elusive. They were three-quarters Chinese, rather than Siamese. They spoke little, according to their families and friends, and seldom to each other. Proximity enforced mutual toleration. Their letters were formal in tone and content. Thus, their thoughts and emotions go largely unchronicled, and there are none of the imagined conversations that are an Irving Wallace hall-mark.

Nor does "The Two" provide any information about Siamese twins in general. (pp. 46-7)

The most interesting material in "The Two," for that matter, has appeared before, in "Duet for a Lifetime" (1964) by Kay Hunter, a descendant of the discoverer of the twins, and in a third the space. (p. 47)