Disclosure

Michael Crichton writes page-turner novels that are always easy to read and hard to put down. In this book, he takes on one of the significant workplace issues of the last decade, sexual harrasment in the major corporation. So far, so good. However, Crichton falls flat by attempting to make his point about how "complex" this issue is by presenting a role reversal situation in which a one-dimensionally ambitious and ruthless female executive all but rapes a male underling. He claims he is doing this in order to be more thought-provoking, but I don't believe this. The situation he presents is highly dubious, and overall the stolid corporate-teckie as "good guy" and the female she-devil as "bad girl" theme is calculated to appeal to a target audience of wonk-male corporate drones who resent the sometimes-unfair consequences of current affirmative action policies favoring women. Certainly it's *possible* that a Meredith Johnson could perform the dastardly deeds depicted in the novel, but if Critchton wanted to write a book that showed the everyday realities of sexual harassment in corporate America, he would have built his plot around female workers being harassed by men, as this is far and away the most typical manifestation of this problem. All in all, the plot is lively and snappy, but the characters are cardboard and the theme not terribly credible.

I really wish Michael Chrichton's was still with us and still writing. He was one of the finest writers of our time. Disclosure was a great read that was hard to put down. It dealt with a a real problem in his own creative style. I loved it.

Interesting plausible plot, excuted well. I enjoyed the story and I felt that it could have become much more invovled and in depth. In addition, the details that were provided were not detailed enough.

If you have ever employed or managed members of the opposite sex or gay, bi or trans gender individuals you have walked the narrow line of harassment. Although published in 1993 the subject matter is still relevant today once the literary embellishments for the storyline are removed. Add the drama of high end mergers, capitalization concerns of mid level tech firms investing millions, and the golden parachutes. Also interesting is the historic reference to the now defunct DINKS dual income no kids, of the 1980's, who are in the story trying to have families and careers in the 1990's. Great novel, fast read.

While I found the story to be interesting, there was too much vulgar language. I don't know why authors feel the need to constantly use the f word and other foul language. It doesn't add anything worthwhile to the story.

Up and coming executive Tom Sanders is secure in his job and his line of work. He has a wife he loves, a child he adores, and a home on an island just off the coast of Washington. He ferries into work at DigiCom each day and oversees a group of techies working on a prototype of hardware that, for some reason, fails and no one knows why.

In the midst of the mystery, Sanders discovers the company is about to be bought out and a new boss is taking over the position Sanders once thought was for himself. Problem is, she's an ex-girlfriend he hasn't seen for years. While disappointed, he accepts the condolences of his peers and adjusts his thinking taking into consideration that no one had ever formerly offered him the job.

When the new boss suggests a 6 pm meeting in her office, he reluctantly agrees. Thinking he is there to discuss the hardware failure he is surprised to find two bottles of wine and a boss ready for pleasure. Sanders' is happy with his life. He has what he wants and he fights off her advances, ending up leaving her half naked on the couch.

Without warning, she accuses him of sexual harassment which is a strictly female dominated HR issue. When word gets out Sanders seeks out an attorney on whose advice he tells his wife and rethinks the issue of sexual harassment.

Sanders comes up with a scheme that will turn Digicom and its merger upside down. With the truth behind him, he will prove that men are no longer the predators, but have become the prey.

Comments

OK, so Disclosure isn't Jurassic Park, or the Andromeda Strain, or the Congo or Sphere. BUT it is a book that makes you think instead of run away in fear. As a woman it was really hard to see and accept that a female boss would act like that, but I am sure it is possible and has more than likely happened on some level. The writing is good, but it does take a little effort to get through the first 100 pages. After that things start to get interesting. Overall, I gave Disclosure a 3 because it did not equal his other books, but Disclosure is still a good enough read to keep it above a 2.

I saw the movie with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore first before I read the book. I thought it was a decent corporate thriller and enjoyed the film. I happened by chance to receive a copy of the book several years later. After reading the book I thought it was great. There is just so much more to the story than the movie presented. The film had to leave out several things in the book probably because of time and budget constraints. I would have loved to have seen the airport scene at the end of the book put in the movie.

I look at the movie more as a corporate thriller rather than solely focusing on Sexual Harassment. Yes. It does play a key issue in the story but I thought all the backstabbing and workplace politics were much more interesting. The characters all seem so real and lifelike. Each character is very believable as if this type of fictional story could happen in real life. All the employees believe they are on the cusp of getting rich when the company goes public and when Meredith arrives taking a job Tom wanted, friendships and loyalty are put to the test.

Maybe I am a little biased because I live in the Pacific Northwest but I thought the book was excellent. It is a real page turner, and did not have a dull moment. I loved the idea of someone behind the scenes dropping clues to Tom of what is really going on. I don't want to give anything away so I'll stop right there.

I thought the seduction scenes in the book were very well done even when Tom comes to his senses about why his relationship with Meredith failed years before and that he has a great life going with this wife why would he want to screw it up. So much of the story has to deal with who is in control. I thought it was smart of Tom to seek out Louise a top attorney in the field of sexual harassment to represent him. The pace of the story is fast keeping the reader interested until the very end. You don't need to be a computer wizard or understand all the technical jargon to really enjoy the book.

I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a thrilling story.

A fascinating psychological book. Don’t start reading if you don’t have the time to finish it.
The topic is very current – complaint of sexual harassment at the top echelon of an industrial company, involving a struggle on the highest position.
When the accused person starts investigating what happened – he finds that the electronic security of the company has been breached. This makes things even more complicated.
Crichton was an excellent writer and he left us great books. This is one of them.
He wrote in a mesmerizing manner, the book is full of twists and surprises and when you think you got the picture – something else happens.
The book has also become a great movie – Disclosure with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore.

In Disclosure, Tom Sanders, a very flawed protagonist, is vying for the same position at Digital Communications as beautiful and talented Meredith Johnson. Meredith gets the promotion and then later tries to seduce Tom. He then files a sexual harassment suit against the company. This sets up a series of events involving large conspiracies, sabotage, and corporate espionage. The most memorable part of this novel is when Tom links into a virtual reality module in an attempt to save his reputation and career.

The plot was well thought out and the pace of the novel was good. For the time, there were some cutting edge high tech aspects to the novel. The worst aspect of the novel is the characterization. None of the characters in this novel are especially likeable. That made it hard to root for any of the characters, and the novel fell a little flat as a result. A solid but unspectacular novel.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

As a young reader, Michael Crichton was my first taste of adult fare. I was eight when I read `Jurassic Park' (or there abouts) and I went right into `The Andromeda Strain' and then `Congo' and then `Sphere' and so on. My father would read them ahead of me, marking out all the curse words and leaving me with hallowed out paragraphs, but it didn't matter. I loved reading these deeply structured science fiction novels that spouted off jargon I couldn't understand and featured dinosaurs ripping people to pieces. It was exciting. In my adulthood, I've pretty much abandoned Crichton's novels. The last novel of his I read was `Timeline', when I was seventeen, and I realized that what was once exciting and challenging in my youth has become somewhat cringe-worthy in my adulthood.

Crichton's novels, while certainly not directed at young adults (what, with all the sex, violence and language) are written like they are.

My issue with `Disclosure', and really most of Crichton's work, is that he wrote in a very childish way, especially when he was mapping out sections of dialog. These characters talk in a very ridiculous way and fail to communicate in a productive manner. Let's forego the fact that Crichton likes to talk circles around the reader's head with his techno-babble. I'm talking about the way his characters say hello to one another. In `Disclosure' we have a character named Max who speaks in such a way I wanted to punch him in the face every time he was on the page. There is nothing wrong with giving your characters a personality. I encourage that. There is even place in these stories for characters who are annoying, but there is a limit. Then we have the relationship with Tom and his wife and that ridiculous obscenity laced lunch conversation about the harassment issue. Who talks to each other like that? Is that normal? I'm sorry, I fight with my wife a lot, but if we even had a scream fit like that, especially in public, I think I'd be filing for divorce. I'm not sure if Crichton was trying to make it melodramatic or something, but it left all believability at that point.

Regardless of my problems with Crichton's writing style itself, it shouldn't be ignored that Crichton writes books that are easy to read. Yes, despite the paragraphs bogged down by technical phrased and descriptions that no one understands, his books are breezy reads. `Disclosure' took me two days to read. Once I got to page 150 or so the book just took off in my hands and I found myself pulled into the story deeper and deeper, mostly because I really wanted to see how this was going to pan out. I was interested. The story being told was intriguing and the twists that Crichton worked in were compelling. I found his constant dissection of Tom's thinking process to be annoying, if we're going to be honest. The fact that Michael kept TELLING US OVER AND OVER that Tom was trying so hard to think back about what he had forgotten became redundant and made Tom appear stupid in parts because it was so obvious. I mean, how he forgot about a certain incident between he and Meredith was kind of ridiculous.

You don't forget something like that.

But, I regress, I think the biggest issue with a book like `Disclosure' is that it ultimately comes across extremely sexist and doesn't ever develop the themes it is trying to develop, at least not in a direct sense. There is certain talk about equality, but it is done in such an overbearing way (I mean, it comes up in nearly EVERY conversation, which makes no sense and feels staged) that it fails to really make an impact. The actions of the primary woman are despicable, and the actions of the men in her corner are just as despicable, making their particular stance on equality corrupt.

It almost feels like a book against equality.

So, yeah, this isn't very good despite being very readable, if that makes any sense.

I really liked it. This book has you guessing with every page. This is about Tom Sanders, a up and coming executive in a computer company. Tom is certain he will get the next big promotion . But when the time comes he his surprised by the news that he didn't get it but a woman got it. The woman who gets it is his ex girlfriend. Tom then finds himself he trouble when his new boss accuses him of sexual harassment. This is a page turner that keeps you wanting to finish it as soon as you can.

A few little different twists at the end, but the movie follows the novel very closely. A great story based on true events. During a mandatory "Risk Management" course to renew my Chiropractic license, I was treated to a true story about how a man and woman scammed their company using sexual harassment tactics. It was hilarious. Unfortunately I can't relate the story here because of some R rated language necessary to describe the circumstances.
Anyone who is a Michael Crichton fan will thoroughly enjoy this one whether or not you have seen the movie. I recommend you try both. The story takes what used to be common occurrence in the workplace and turns the tables 180 degrees. As always, excellently crafted characters who come alive on the pages.

While browsing Goodread.com for something to read, I came across "Disclosure." What sparked my interest was the subject matter, being that of sexual harrassment being used as a weapon for advancement in business. The book was published in 2001 and here we are in 2018 with the same problems we had then. In fact there has been so much focus on sexual harrassment in the media that I just had to read "Disclosure" and find out what Michael Crichton had to opine about the political and social climate in the year 2000.

The storyline concerns a corporate executive in the field of electronic technology who loses a promotion to a woman. She is determined to eliminate him as a threat to her advancement and brings a false charge of sexual harassment against him. With his great writing skill and creativity, Crichton gives a clear picture of the importance of gender equality. Simultaneously, he demonstrates through his storyline, how damaging a false charge of sexual assault can be to a victim's life.

Disclosure is not my favorite Michael Crichton novel, but so far as I have been able to determine, Crichton was actually unable to write badly. I personally rate most of his science fiction books among the top 50 sci-fi books ever written by anyone. Maybe what I don't like here is that the hero Sanders is on the defensive from page one, fighting a losing battle that progressively gets more hopeless. And he's kind of a wimp. Still, Crichton got me to read this twice.

Problems at home, problems at work, limping from a company touch football game wound, late to work on the most important day of his life, an old girlfriend of his is brought in as his new division boss (taking the job he expected to get), a merger bringing two companies together, dashing the job security of everyone until things get sorted out, unresolved issues with a new drive are so serious that someone high up may be looking for a fall guy, then a sexual encounter with his new-boss/old-girlfriend goes so wrong it seems like a set-up. It is a set-up.

Now I have to identify with a hero who everyone thinks sexually assaulted his boss, for, the, rest, of, the, novel...

But then I started enjoying the legal aspects of the novel, identifying with the company lawyer Sanders goes to for help. Once the lawyers get involved, this puppy picks up.

From DISCLOSURE:
"I see. Those studies are wrong. But the studies about sexual differences are right?"
"Well, sure. Because sex is fundamental. It's a primal drive."
"I don't see why. It's used for all sorts of purposes. As a way of relating, a way of placating, a way of provoking, as an offer, as a weapon, as a threat. It can be quite complicated, the ways sex is used. Haven't you found that to be true?"
The woman crossed her arms. "I don't think so."
Speaking for the first time, the young man said, "So what'd you tell this guy? Not to litigate?"
"No. But I told him his problems."
"What do you think he should do?"
"I don't know," Fernandez said. "But I know what he should have done."
"What?"
"It's terrible to say it," she said. "But in the real world? With no witnesses? Alone in the office with his boss? He probably should have shut up and f---ed her. Because right now, that poor bastard has no options at all. If he's not careful, his life is over."

But then Saunders grows a real pair, the pair he didn't use in the sexual encounter with his boss, to fight back against the accusations, and the novel gets fun for me. Eventually, I started enjoying the power plays and corporate back-stabbing. ©1993, Michael Crichton goes astray with an extended virtual reality riff that just seemed clumsy to me, and overall I didn't like the hero much; Sanders seemed too clueless and distracted about the behavior of other people until the end.

I like the book better than the movie; although as I recall, the movie had some good moments.

Crichton reverses the sex of the usual participants of sexual harassment for this novel; I'm sure there are some guys perched in powerful jobs who are actually far worse than the gal in this book was. @hg47

Another win for Crichton with this story based on a true event. You don't often hear about men being sexually harassed. And when you do, they are laughed at or accused of the crime itself. I saw Disclosure many years ago and the novel goes a lot more into the background of Meredith, making this read highly engaging and the sneaky nature of her character an unfortunate testament to the reality of humanity at its worst kind of self-centeredness. Crichton explores the many layers involved in Meredith's ruse, making this a read a reminder to be careful whom we let into our lives.

High-tech company executive Tom Sanders has it all made. Today he is on his way to his office at DigiCom where it is certain to be promoted to division leader. There are some minor set-backs on a production line that he leads, but nothing he cannot handle. But all is not well. When he enters the building he notices his ex-girlfriend Meredith Johnson talking to the big company chief. What's happening? Is the upcoming merger going to reshuffle the complete organisational structure? When he gets called for a one-to-one meeting with Meredith Tom's career is about to be completely blown away.

Disclosure builds on the fairly interesting premise of the danger associated with a growing trend of sexual harassment cases on the work floor. Is this a legal tool only reserved for female employees only or can males also be sexually intimidated? Crichton spins a story that is slow at getting up to speed, but once its setting is clear it delivers on many fronts. One of the more powerful aspects of the story is the duality that is been kept alive throughout the story. It is never a clear cut case and most of the time it bathes in moral ambiguity. The only minor drawback to this set-up is that, following the typical formula of any decent thriller novel, the story begs for a factual resolution and Crichton made sure that this was also the case for this novel. Although the resolution might not be fully in line with the build-up of the story, it still maintains a certain level of authenticity many readers will be able to appreciate.

After reading the phenomenally fun 'Jurassic Park' I picked up a copy of 'Disclosure' the instant I saw it...and when I got home and read the inside cover and found out that Chrichton had traded in all the techno-talk that had filled his other great stories ('Sphere' 'Congo' & 'Jurassic Park' to name a few) for a story of all things, sexual harassment! And to top it off, it was a story of a MAN being harassed by a WOMAN! I was skeptical to say the least of this storyline, but I trusted that Chrichton wouldn't disappoint me...and in this he never did.
Our main guy wakes up in the morning as happy as anyone could possibly be because he is getting to go to work in Seattle and accept the promotion he so very much deserves...but doesn't get. He notices a very big change in how everyone treats him when he arrives (because they already know) and yet the worst is yet to come. Not only did he NOT get the promotion, it actually goes to his one of his former girlfriends who is in NO WAY as qualified, and up until this morning, wasn't even working at the same place. It really comes as quite a shock. But the worst is yet to come. His 'new' boss invites him to her office rather late at night, and after some awkward moments, they next begin a little naughty stuff...but Tom breaks it off before it goes too far. However this isn't what Meredith wants...and then she makes some threats, pretty BIG threats to Tom for stopping before she get's what she wanted. Tom goes home and tries very hard to hide his guilt from his wife and manages to thwart a potential problem at home, but the next day at work he finds out that Meredith has filed a complaint against him for harassment. Tom quickly finds his normally dull life somewhat more exciting than he ever thought it could possibly get. Not only does he miss out on a promotion that was rightfully his, he now faces legal action for something he is totally innocent of, but how do you prove something like that against a woman who just received YOUR job? If you saw the movie (which wasn't all that bad considering how truly terrible 'Congo' was) read this anyway, the way Tom ends up pulling out from under this seemingly impossible situation is pretty amazing AND mighty entertaining as well. Chrichton quickly won me over with an engrossing story that was the first to introduce me to that new-fangled way of communicating called, 'e-mail' (if you had read the book when it 1st came out, it would've sounded pretty new back then...).

Nothing goes right for Tom Sanders from page one of this book. He is running late for work and has to help his wife with the kids. There's problems with the new products he's in charge of. He doesn't get the promotion he expected to get. And to top it all off his ex-girlfriend got his promotion and is now his boss. Things go downhill (if possible) from there when he is sexually harrassed by her. He finds himself stuck in the situation when people don't believe a man could possibly be harrassed by a woman. These events lead to a story that is powerful, gripping, and puts the reader on an emotional roller coaster.

Disclosure is an awesome book. Based on a true events this book grabs the reader and won't let go. It is very well written and is easy to follow. Reader beware though this book has some strong language and some explicit scenes. If you are open-minded enough this shouldn't be a problem and the explicit scene is important in the story as it's the focus of the book.

This book is great at exploring the inner workings of a major corporation. It also explores the idea of a man being sexually harrassed by a woman instead of the usual scenario with the woman as the victim. It focuses on the stigma that is attached to the accuser and the accused.

Disclosure is an incredible book to read. It is very entertaining and is easy to read. It keeps the reader interested until the very last page. Well worth the time and definitely one to recommend!

Disclosure by Michael Crichton was a little more then I expected it to be. This book is very suspensful and very well written. This story also had better characterization then some of Crichton's other books.

The story revolves around Tom Sanders. Tom is a director for a department of advanced technology for a tech firm. He gets passed up for a promotion that he deserves. The job goes to his ex-girlfriend of ten years past. She has moved up through the company very quickly and some people suspect that she has had an affair with the CEO. This company is about to merge with another company and go public (which means big bucks for all employees). However, Tom loses his chance when he almost gets raped by his new boss. Everyone believes the women's side of the story that Tom had intercourse willingly. This leads Tom to say he was sexually harrassment. Soon Tom finds himself fighting company politics, the law, and blackmail to prove how he has been mistreated. This is a very uphill battle because nobody believes a guy can be a victim.

The story is very modern and realistic. It addresses reverse discrimination with Title VII. It doesn't show men as victims, just how some (I'm sure very few actually do) women use sexual assault/discrimination as a political tool to get ahead in the world.

This certainly wouldn't be on the toread list of a feminist. However, for most people, this book is entertaining and worthy to read to address this very sensitive subject matter.

A "New York Times" #1 bestseller, Michael Crichton's book Disclosure is a thrilling novel based on the secrets and lies underlying a new age computer firm. It depicts a man caught in this nightmarish web of deceit who finds himself trapped in a power struggle, forcing him to defend himself for another's wrong-doings. Presented as a power-hungry, sexually driven woman, the man's new boss is the seductive enemy. The book's message is that the roles in any situation, including sexual harassment, are not gender-specific. In a world in which women are generally looked upon as oppressed, it is difficult for a man to fight a sexual harassment suit, just as it is difficult for anyone to overcome stereotypes. Crichton uses the character Meredith Johnson to reveal his main point that no gender is restricted to a specific part, and that certain situations stereotypically applied to one gender could just as easily be applied to the other. Meredith Johnson is first introduced in the novel as the new head of the technical division of the computer firm, which is a mild shock both to the readers and to the other characters in the novel. It is rare to see a woman in a power position, especially one demanding technical expertise. She proves to be both strong-willed and domineering, two traits typically not associated with women. Meredith further shocks the readers when she makes sexually suggestive comments to her employee, Tom Sanders, and further sexually harasses him. He finds his job threatened. Because this situation has reversed gender roles than what is typical, not a single person in his company believes that he was not the one who instigated the sexual behaviors. Through her "uncharacteristic" position of high power in a technology firm and her aggressive sexual advances, Ms. Johnson has taken on a reverse role, proving that nothing is truly gender-specific. Just as stereotypes in the past and certainly in the present, have served as barriers to those who have tried to surpass them, so do they act as a restraint for Tom Sanders, who tries to overcome the conventionalized idea that it is only women who are sexually harassed. Ironically, towards the beginning of the novel, a fellow co-worker of Tom's brings up the issue of a male employee who claims his female boss sexually harassed him. Sanders says that the harassment was probably provoked and that the man might not be telling the truth, saying that he thinks this way not because he discredits the man's story, but simply because it is a statistic that men are the harassers and women the harassed. Later, when Sanders proclaims that he was sexually harassed, no one can believe that a forty-one year old man rejected the sexual advances of an extremely attractive thirty-six year old woman, and so they presume that Sanders is lying. Sanders' lawyer even so much as says that he has no case; that there is so much bias against men in sexual harassment lawsuits that he will lose the case, thereby destroying his life. Therefore, he has been trapped in a no-win situation because of the overriding stereotypes about men in cases involving sexual harassment. In Disclosure, Michael Crichton illustrates a picture of a computer industry based on manipulation and false trust, in which the delicate balance of power teeters on the edge of destruction. It is the story of a man who cannot escape the psychological games going on behind closed doors. Crichton succeeds in proving that even the law cannot defeat the power of stereotypes, specifically in sexual harassment cases, despite validation that, especially in today's world, gender roles have significantly dissipated.

Disclosure deals with a man who is sexually harassed by a woman. Tom Sanders is the main character in this book, and right now at work he is dealing with a merger with another company, so when his former lover Merdith becomes to his company and who takes his job from him, he is then invited to her office for a meeting; but what happens is that she makes a move on him, but since he is married and not wanting to do it, he is then caught in a plan to bring him down because he wants to file a law suit against him. So when he brings in his lawyer; Ms. Fernandez, she then tells one side of the story, but when he calls one of his co-workers on a cell phone, he then realizes that he didnt end the call so he left the phone on and on the answering machine it recorded the WHOLE event. She then realizes this, and she tells the truth. So now Tom then calls his wife and tells her to leave town for a little bit because he does not want her to get into the mess he is in.
So now, he then counters her past employment; at the time all of the men who worked for her, they either resigned or where transfered away from her. So she has a past for doing sexual harassment. Now the book gets juicy toward the end and I have to say it is just plain exciting. This is a GREAT thriller! I have read it a couple of years ago, and still the book holds your interest toward the end. Great!

I like Michael Crichton books. I have grown up reading him. I think the Andromeda Strain was my first. He really tried to stay in the science of the possible. He stayed with that a little to write a very good book about sexual harassment. I am a Baptist minister. I believe in one wife and one man and sex is for enjoyment in marriage. When it is a weapon, bad things happen. This book is a moralistic one. Crichton does probe moral problems in his books. As a novel this is fun stuff. You like Sanders the main character and cheer for him. He is not perfect, but you like him. The bad person is a woman, you hate and feel a little pity for her in the end. The technology in the book was current for the time. Its outdated now and really not futuristic. Crichton tried on that one. The filing system from the future is a nice Crichton touch. If they read this stuff in 50 years you can tell he did it. Yep its fast paced and keeps you reading. This book is for Crichton fans, and those with big moral questions. Warning: the sex language is frank, but its needed to make a book on the subject work. Its rated R, but with a reason.

Michael Crichton's 'Disclosure' is definately one of his most interesting and informative works to date. The core focus of this novel seems to be a coorporate sexual harrassment case with unusually large and far reaching implications on main character, Tom Sanders future career and that of his co-workers at Digi-Com, but there is really a bit more than reaches the eye.

Almost as weighty as the sexual harrassment case itself, is the issue of sexism, and human nature in this novel. Michael Crichton does a very clever and innovative job at expressing his views of the various and very different pressures and expectations that both men and women face in the coorporate world; but the thing is, this informative and weighty content never gets boring or stale.

Besides being a very purposeful work, 'Disclosure' is also a riveting and exciting story that very successfully builds and sustains tension. During this game of 'cat and mouse' between Tom Sanders, and his female superior, Merideth Johnson, a simple manner of refused sex builds into a legal case that could terminate the very optimistic future of Digi-Com.

A very meaningful and gripping novel, 'Disclosure' was a very entertaining read.

This is Michael Crichtons second non techno thriller. What i mean by this, is that it doesnt have crazy biological stuff about it. But that doesnt mean he cant right a good novel about real life.
In this book we follow Tom Sanders, a well off family man that is a manager of a computer company. He is expecting a promotion, but the day he expects it, he finds that an old lover from ten years ago comes out of nowhere and gets the job he was planning on getting. While catching up with her later that night in her office, things happen. The next day Tom is accused of sexual Harassment. Tom is stuck in a corner, with his marriage, job, and life on the line, unless he does something about it.
Everyone is against Sanders, i mean, what man accuses a woman of sexual harassment. This is what Crichton is trying to put out there for us. It can happen, and it does/did happen.
This book is based on a true story that will leave you gasping every chapter. This book was great. I loved it. Don't pass this up because its not set in a dinosaur park. Michael Crichton can still right one hell of a thriller set in an everyday environment. Every page has a new meaning and makes you think differntly, all the way up to the incredibly shocking conclusion.

Disclosure is one of the most absorbing and suspenseful books I've read that is still very realistic. It's about office politics, and especially sexual harrassment charges, in a large computer corporation. Tom Sanders is an executive who's world is turned upside down when his promotion is stolen by an ex-lover who then tries to seduce him - all in the middle of a merger. There are a lot of plot twists and turns from there, plenty of double-dealing and sneaky backstabbing, which I would have thought unrealistic twenty years ago when I was naive. But I've been the victim of office politics on several occasions myself, and this book brilliantly, realistically represents that sinking feeling when you learn you're being betrayed by people you trusted, and that everyone else is siding with the boss. The two-faced, backstabbing, irresponsible, lying, and nepotic characters Michael Crichton brings to life here vividly reminded me of management persons I've had the displeasure of working for, [...]. But the book, fortunately, has a happier ending than ever happens in real life, thanks to Crichton's clever plotting.

This is one of the best novels by Michael Crichton that I have read. The most delicate themes of "sexual harassment" and "mobbing" simply invite authors to write about them. And I have read a lot of trash and cheap voyeurism concerning these subjects. Not here. Like in "Rising Sun" the research for this novel was outstanding and this resulted in an excellent plot with a logical, inevitable line of events and a breathtaking speed. The characters and, I am afraid, the plot are all too credible and they reflect reality more than a lot of people would like to admit. It is not disturbing then that the final twist of action has somewhat of the deus ex machina technique, because the ending is not what is really interesting. The most interesting thing is that events like this can happen (actually happen) and that they are in a way even legal. Crichton writes about the effects of laws that are fine with us in theory and well meant by the legislator. But once they are exposed to reality human nature corrupts them and brings about more injustice, they even awake the beast in man (and women, too!!).
When you begin to read this novel make sure you have enough time to read it in one go!

This book is a very interesting story of corporate intrigue, suspense and infighting that is a fast paced and enjoyable tale by itself. What makes it fascinating is that Chrichton has woven a current issue -- on the job sexual harrassment -- into the heart of the story.
But its not sexual harrassment the way you'd expect. Tom Sanders -- Digicom's Vice President -- is harrassed by his new boss Meridth Johnson after she wins a promotion fight they both were waging. The old story of a boss using position for sexual gratification is turned on its head -- she is in the power position, demanding performance from the man and creating an environment of retaliation at his refusal.
The book is a wonderful expose of sexual harrassment by examining it from an unconventional vantage point. This serious issue does at first look different when a man is the accuser against a female. But this refreshing portrayal produces a first rate look at the problem.
The rest of the story surrounds high tech corporate culture, market pressure, a fascinating look at virtual reality technology and the tried and true secrative corporate machinations that reveal themselves over the course of the book.
I must add that the issue does not detract from the story. It greatly enhances Chrichton's work proving once again that he is a master story teller and a genius at weaving disparate elements into a first rate thriller.

Michael Crichton has done it again. I have to admit that going into this book I was suspicious that Michael Crichton was not going to be able to pull this one off. He is famed for his technical mumbo-jumbo plots that some how seem to make it atop the bestseller list. He is able to mix enough technical details in the book but lets the common reader be able to understand what he is talking about. Disclosure is not a typical book for Michael Crichton. He takes a hot topic in the workplace and turns it around to make it very interesting. If this book was about a woman claiming sexual harrassment then it would be a dud. It's too common. The main character is a person that you would want to hang around with in real life. But on the other hand, the villian is somebody that you love to hate. Crichton does a good job developing the characters and the plot. He is able to keep you interested until he unveils the major starting point of the conflict. Some of the things that are talked about in the book are out of date but you can get past that. The ending is fascinating. Dislosure is a roller coaster ride that will keep you reading at a break neck speed. 5 stars

Michael Crichton's books are thrilling reads, but most of them center around up-and-coming technology that, at the time, seems so advanced. Reading this novel, rather than being supressed into the wonders of future technology, we're actually transported back to its early stages. In this case, a CD-ROM. Well... we're all beyond that, and now DVDs and iPods are the wave of the future. Still, it's interesting to note about how technology has indeed improved in such a small duration of time.

But Disclosure isn't about "fast" CD-ROMs (hehe...), but sexual harassment. But instead of just the usual man harassing woman plot, it's reversed so that now the man was harassed by a woman. The "stuff" hits the fan when this happens to our main protagonist Tom Sanders after an encounter with an ex-girlfriend, Meridith Johnson. But it's not so simple... the book delves deeper into the conflict that the harassment was only a small part in a devilish plan that only gets bigger and bigger with each page turn.

Not necessarily Crichton's best work, but still an interesting and quite thrilling read. Very entertaining.

Tom Sanders day started out reasonably well when he woke up. Today was the day that his promotion would be announced. Then things started going wrong, first his wife insisted that he feed the children breakfast, causing him to be late for work. Once he got there he discovered that the product he was responsible for developing had suddenly developed huge problems. Then he found that his promotion was going to somebody else, a woman that he had had an affair with years before. Then things got really bad.

Crichton takes on the world of corporate dirty dealings with the same flair he has used so successfully in medicine, palentology, and others in his other best sellers. His style makes for gripping reading, the short chapters and impossibly compressed timelines lure the reader into reading for just a bit more. On the downside, the characters are never fully developed and there are so many of them in this book that it is difficult to keep them straight.

This is not the sort of book that people will be studying in a hundred years but it is a fun way to spend a few hours today.

Having read every one of Michael Crichton's books except for Jurassic Park and The Lost World (I know, it's hard to believe right) I am comfortable in saying that Disclosure is, without a doubt, his best book. Written fearlessly and emphatically, Disclosure tells the story of Tom Sanders, and the sexual harassment threat at the work place he is charged with against his new boss, and former lover, Meredtih Johnson. The book is simply written splendidly, creating a good cast of characters to tackle the superb plot that Crichton creates. We sit back and watch the novel unfold, and around every corner there is something we don't expect, and we like the novel even more because of this. As the novel moves along at its quick, yet steady pace, we watch all the things that Tom encounters, and are smiling at the way that Crichton uses Tom as his stepping stone, crossing this line here, encountering something incredibly different there. The novel is simply splendid in every way, and I wished that it had actually been longer, so that we could have learned more about Tom, the plot, and everything that happens because of the encounter in the office...

I have read all of Crichton's fiction novels except one (Congo) and I can say without a doubt that this is his best one. Sure, it's not the modern science fiction as usual that he does so well, and you have to get into the book a little before it is very exciting, but I promise you that once this book hits it's stride you will not be able to put it down. After the excitement level was upped I read most of the rest of the book in one setting. It is very suspenseful, just when you think Sander's problems are coming to an end, something else comes up.
Also, several people have commented that the plot is fanciful because in it a man is sexually harrased by a woman. However, as statistics will show, going by the fact that there is a smaller percentage of women as heads of corporations than men, and taking into account the harrasment cases brought up against them by men there is actually a greater percentage of women who sexually harrass than men in the workplace. And besides, I imagine that the great majority of them that do come up aren't reported. After all, if a woman came up to you...
But aside from my comments on society, JUST READ THE BOOK. Make what you want out of it, it was controversial and raised a lot of questions for a reason... it's good!

A compelling read. All the more interesting because the story, based on a real-world scandal, includes a major plot element of affirmative action, feminism, and the harm that results when honesty and qualifications are tossed out the window in favor of affirmative action. Similar disasters have occurred when the beneficiary of affirmative action is a racial minority. Here, the perp is a wily beautiful scheming woman. The female element adds an element of racial tension. Anyhow, who dares write the truth about racially-based affirmative action and bias; anyone who would do so would be haranged to death.

Michael Crichton is at his best with Disclosure. As usual, not afraid to take on controversial issues, Crichton explores the world of sexual harassment from the point of view of a harassed male. By looking at the issue from an uncommon viewpoint, he uncovers the underlying issues at stake. He reveals the emotions behind sexual harassment while not letting them interfere with the facts. Crichton wraps this well-researched information in a compelling story of corporate politics and intrigue. What is most amazing, however, is that he can write a book about so morbid a topic while keeping the story appealing. Though at points I felt offended by graphic descriptions, the story was far too engaging to put down.
Any fan of Michael Crichton will discover that this is one of his best novels; even someone new to Crichton will derive great pleasure from Disclosure's many twists and turns. Though not for the easily offended, his fast-paced, addictive style of writing is enjoyable and thoroughly satisfying. From cover to cover, Disclosure is an excellent novel.

If Michael Crichton's novel Disclosure is about sexual harassment, then Peter Benchley's JAWS is about the fiscal impact of a natural disaster upon a small town's tourist driven economy. Tom Sanders comes to work on Monday morning expecting to be rewarded with a profitable promotion as the company he works for merges with another. Instead Meredith Johnson, a former girlfriend of Sanders, has been given the position. Making matters worse are the problems with the new line of products. A production line that Sanders is responsible for. Meredith schedules an evening meeting with Tom. During that meeting she becomes sexually aggressive and, after a moment of temptation, Tom leaves. The next day Meredith claims Tom sexually harassed her. Humiliated and angered by the fraudulent claim, Tom quickly files a counter and the game of corporate cat and mouse begins as the announcement of the merger draws closer. But there is a serious problem that Tom is not paying attention to and it is that, not the sexual harassment charge, that could lead to his downfall if he does not catch it in time. Disclosure is typical Crichton - breathlessly paced, the characterization two-dimensional, at best, and the technical and corporate red herrings have been over simplified to fit into an impossibly tight narrative time frame. Nonetheless it keeps the reader reading, which is all that pop fiction like this aspires to do. A diverting read, but far from Crichton's best work.

Crichton writes great thrillers and this is definitely one of them. He explores the power plays in large corporations and how sex and money are sometimes dangled in front of people or used to get someone's way. While I did want to see how the story played out, none of the characters are really likeable, including the main character. The end is definitely not neat and you may feel cheated, but you will certainly enjoy the journey!

When I read this I was positively delighted. It tackles such an issue that many simply would avoid. We must remember that it is indeed a contraversial subject, but we must not shy away from it. Crichton certainly does not, and he hits it head on. But with an added twist; the sexual harrassment charge comes from a man-which (with tradition) rarely happens. One must draw on this fact because it allows the book so much more potential. It shows the issue in a different light, and ultimately proves that there are always different ways of looking at things.
The characters themselves are superb. We are trapped into the desperation of our leading role and actually feel for him when all seems to be lost. This sense of hopelessness is magnified by the fact that he is trying to fight a corner which is not well covered. Crichton, if you like, enlightens us on this matter. He forces us to think again about sexual politics and how the nature of both sexes can become confused.
A very significant work that begs for your attention. Read this, see what Crichton is talking about and then look at your own world and see the links.

Tom Sanders never thinks about the old days in Cupertino, when he lived for a time with a woman named Meredith Johnson. He's settled happily into his company's Seattle office, has married, and is busy raising a young family. At 41, he's also anticipating the reward for his years of service when his division spins off and goes public. That will certainly secure his financial future, and it just might make him rich. But first he and the company must get through a merger. That may not be easy, because the promotion Tom anticipates goes to - complete surprise - his old girlfriend.

To this Tom thinks he can adjust. When Meredith Johnson starts their new relationship with broad references to their old one, and then demands sexual favors, Tom finds out that adjusting won't be possible. What he doesn't know is Meredith's real reason for doing this. If he doesn't discover her hidden agenda in time, the life he treasures now and the future he dreams of for his family will both disappear. And that's if he's lucky. What happens if he isn't lucky? He loses it all. His wife and kids, too.

Like Crichton's other books, this one is gripping and well written. However, his stated intention - to show the reader certain truths about sexual harassment by writing the tale in "role reversal" mode - didn't work for me. Despite meticulous research and a good outward understanding of his subject matter, Crichton's inability to write female characters trips him up this time. The only woman he really "gets right," attorney Fernandez, he ruins in the postscript by putting views into her mouth that are at odds (wildly) with her characterization throughout the chapters in which she appears. I agree completely with his pounded in point that women and men are all, in the end, simply people. Individuals, who should no more be stereotyped and expected to behave in certain ways than should Blacks, Hispanics, etc. The trouble is, he works so hard at reversing the stereotypes that he winds up leaving me curiously convinced that in his heart of hearts he still believes in them.

This book is one of my all-time favorites. Actually I had seen the movie before I read the book and I must tell you that the book is much better than the movie (as it usually is).
The story is about Tom Sanders, the would-be vice president of the computer company DigiCom. The company is about to merge with another company. A Monday Sanders finds out he won't be vice-president, instead of that her ex-girlfriend, Meredith Johnson comes in as the new vice-president.
The story is great because of the role reversal. You can hear that male harass their female subordinates but what's rarely heard that a female leader harasses her male subordinate. Maybe you wouldn't believe it if you'd hear it. The story is great because you never know whom you can trust and what is the role of the people in the company. It seems that what's obvious for everyone isn't obvious for Sanders and that there's something that nobody knows about. Crichton manages to create a frightening atmosphere where you'll never know what happens next.
I liked all the characters and I liked Meredith as well. All in all this is a great book and a pageturner you can't put down. I think this is the best book of Michael Crichton.

Amazing story. Even if it was written 7 years ago, we still have the same question, in the companies who has the power? The answer is not the men nor the women, the power is in the position of the company whether is a man or a woman who is the president, and when that president want something he or she will do whatever he/she has to do to get it, it doesn't matter if is his secretary or her personal adviser, it doesn't matter if nobody want to do this or that thing, if the boss say something they will do it.
The story of the book is different because is a man who make charges to a woman of sexual harassment, it is difficult to believe, but it can be real. The book will keep you reading all the time, but has a little mistake, you know exactly what happened in the first chapter and you know who is guilty, may be it will be more interesting if you didn't know exactly what happened until the end of the book.

This novel is centered on corporate politics in a high-tech computer firm in Seattle. A high level executive in the company has been passed over for promotion by a woman from another division in the firm. This woman, with whom he had a relationship ten years earlier when she wasn't a part of the company, sexually harasses him. He now finds himself in a serious predicament. How can he keep his current position, how can he address the issue of harassment by a female superior, and can he find the underlying political reasons why he has been placed in this situation? The novel also includes some interesting discussions about the use of virtual reality in obtaining computer data. There is an interesting statistic given in the novel. About 5% of all the reported cases of sexual harassment are made by men with respect to female supervisors. That doesn't sound like much. Yet, only about 5% of top-level executives in the U. S. today are women. This suggests that the rate of harassment by women is the same as for men. Sexual harassment is about misuse of power and is independent of the gender of the person with the power.

Let me preface this review by saying that most popular fiction books I've read in the recent past, no matter who the author, have been a disappointment. Most of the time, the beginning or even the majority of the common novel is at least decent. Toward the end, though, you either know what's going to happen, don't particularly care because the story or characters were never really interesting or developed, or most often, the novel simply runs out of excitement and suspense, a lot of times because the novels I'm referring to are often action or suspense novels with "stock" or "cliched" endings. I'm sure many readers have had the same feeling, similar to that occasional movie that you don't end up seeing the end of and don't particularly care to.

This isn't the case with Disclosure, by Michael Crichton. Though the driving subject and central scene of the novel- sexual harrassment in a corporate setting- is not exactly new, Crichton presents it in a brutally honest and refreshing way, along with well developed and real characterizations. This allows the story to be interesting and even suspensful throughout the length of the work, not just the majority, because Crichton expertly uses the main scene as a driving force for the actions of each character for the rest of the story. There are some cliches and weird elements (the amazing virtual database bit just seems like nonsense in current contexts), but Crichton has presented a character driven story with a remarkably consistent pace. I also liked Crichton's commentary on the nature of sexual harrassment as a tool for those with power, and that the concept of it being gender driven (that is, males harrass females as a natural rule) is a fallacy resulting from the fact that males simply have always been superiors in the work place.

I could say more, but I'd rather not give too much away...read it, you'll enjoy a novel that actually offers something all the way through, not just tepid action and suspense that never materializes.

I gave it up after the first few chapters. Technical jargon overload! Started another book. Next day, I thought, that can’t be all there is, considering whom the author was. So I went back to it. Glad I did!

I really enjoyed the book, and felt that Crichton did very well in presenting his story of the minefield that is Office Politics. I am very familiar with the subject matter, and was able to identify with a lot of the material that Crichton presented throughout Disclosure. The characters of Tom Sanders, and Meridith Johnson were interesting to read about, and Crichton has always done well with presenting his heros, and villians as deep well thought out characters. The book is not perfect, and Sanders gets very lucky in some tense scenes, and were this real life, and not a novel. I am sure that the ending could have been quite different. Overall I really enjoyed the book, and can gladly give it a favorable review. I hope you enjoy it as well.

One of Crichton's best novel. I think that Crichton is a wonderful author and he has a great writing style.
I found that Disclosure was a very entertaining, and educational. It's a known fact that after Crichton wrote Disclosure that the internet was more popular than ever. I thought that the beginning was just plain great. It dragged a little in the middle and the book but then bounces write back up.
The characters are developed a little. Don't get me wrong, I thought there was good character development but i think that Crichton should have consintrated just a tiny bit more character development on Sanders, all the other characters were greatly developed.
So, over all; I give Disclosure by Michael Crichton five stars!

I must admit that this book was never without something going on. I found myself bunching up my eyebrows, trying to understand the plot and the mini "mystery" that Crichton created. The year 2000 was a little late for me to just be reading this book. "Disclosure" was originally copyrighted in 1993 and actually took time out to explain what e-mail and the internet was, which was rather, uh, different. I'm sure it would have been more beneficial to the average Jimmy living in 1993 though. The sexual harrassment theme that this book centered around was a break from the norm. I don't know if something this extreme would occur in reality, but the ways Crichton described the acts of a sexual harrasser were valid and accurate. A great read and quick pager-turner that I would recommend to males and females.

When I first starting readin this book I was sceptical because it wasn't science fiction like most of Crichton's other books. But, reluctantly, I sat down and started reading, the first ten pages were pretty boring then it got up pace and I started to really enjoy this book, I was hooked around page 25 and couldn't stop reading, and at page 100 I was deeply lost in this wonderful novel. I read the next 400 pages quickly and loved every single minute of it. The characters were interesting and enjoyable to read about. And after I was done I noticed that no one else really wrote about sexual harassment and the man be the victim and I then saw how Crichton told the truth about sexual harassment, that the man is always blamed no matter what. I advise everybody to go out to your local book store and pick this book up, I promise you'll love it like I did!