Tuesday, April 23, 2024
People Will Talk (on video): Robert Kuttner and Gerald Epstein on current politics and economics in context: Liz Miele: *Murder Sheets* (a comedy concert); Jackie Kashian and Anna Valenzuela on Community Colleges (and audio bonus: *This is Love: Maria Bamford*)
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Guest Book Review by Joseph Green: ANNIE BOT by "Sierra Greer"
Annie Bot by "Sierra Greer"
This short novel is a far departure from the ray guns, rocket ships and Colonies-on-Mars that dominated early science fiction. Annie is a sex doll, but one provided with high intelligence by the incorporation of advanced AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) programs. Her body, which had a human embryo as part of its starter base, is externally so realistic she can “pass” in a crowd, despite being a battery-operated machine. The thrust of the novel, told from Annie’s Point of View, is her struggle to become fully human—or at least to free herself from the built-in compulsion to always please her owner, primarily as his sex partner. A major second theme is said owner falling in love with his sex doll, after a failed marriage and an unwillingness to try again with an actual (and capable of resisting him) woman. The interactions of these two characters form the bulk of the novel.
Annie provides a great deal to think about, and in places could lead you into deep philosophical queries—such as what is truly human, and how do we judge. Because Annie was created as a sex doll, the novel has many scenes where she fulfills her built-in compulsions. But she is also “more than”, and as these other characteristics surface she begins to fight for an independent existence. This brings the question of what actually is a “human” to the fore.
"Sierra Greer" is a pseudonym for Caragh O’Brien, who is an established writer of primarily YA SF. It seems clear that with this breakout novel she has expanded her horizons with an adult and very thoughtful examination of a quite possible, and little-explored, near-future world.
(Copyright © 2024 by Joseph Green) (revised from a discussion-list post)
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
SSW: "Day of Succession" by Ted Thomas (1959): Short Story Wednesday
(Arguable "spoilers" for the story throughout what's below; one can read it here first, if one chooses.)
I posted this note to a discussion list not too long ago, since I thought it might be of at least passing interest:
Probably familiar clip to some: Cassie Mackin, Arthur C. Clarke, Rod Serling on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW
Sunday, March 10, 2024
January/February Underappreciated Music: Links to reviews and performances
Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova: Pussy Riot Closing Statements (2012)
Cindy Lee Berryhill on Mojo Nixon; Berryhill on Trash Flow Radio on Nixon (about 35 minutes in)
Jim Cameron: Dave "Fathead" Newman: Davey Blue; Wayne Kramer of the MC5
Jeff Cantwell: Totally Wired: Machine Music and the Fossils of the Future (on early electronic instruments)
Annette Crossland: Elles Bailey: "Cheats and Liars"
Jeff Gemmill: Emmylou Harris: Thirteen; The Henry Girls: A Time to Grow; The Long Ryders: Native Sons; Maggie Pope: Crow; Sarah Jarosz: Polaroid Lovers; Mol Sullivan: Goose; Hayley Reardon: Live at Starseed Studios; The Castellows: A Little Goes a Long Way; Steve Bergsman: All I Want is Loving You: Popular Female Singers of the 1950s: AI adventures in reviewing Valerie Carter and the Faragher Brothers: "Never Get Your Love Behind Me": Chat GPT and Gemini
Ted Gioia: My 60 Favorite Nonesuch Albums (in three parts); Part 2 (in part!); Part 3 (in part!)
Jackie Kashian: Ian Lockwood on recent/current Pop Icons
George Kelley: Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark; Rosanne Cash: The Wheel; Girl from the North Country: The Musical; Rock Steady 1971 (a Starbucks album); Daryl Hall and John Oates: Our Kind of Soul; 25 Best Hits of the 1960s [sic]; Oldies but Goodies V. 5 (CD version); Best of the Bubble Gum Years [sic]
Tom Kraemer: John Hall & al.: "Power"
Barry N. Malzberg: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti; Bruckner: Symphony No. 6: Frankfort Radio Symphony conducted by Christoph Eschenbach
Todd Mason: 1959 Jazz Albums and the '59 Grammys
Charles Mingus, Abbey Lincoln &...
Thelonious Monk: Rewind and Play (link for beyond US)
Natasha Padilla: Mary Timoney: "Don't Disappear"; Saxsquatch
Wesley Paich: The Kiffness: "Numnum Cat"
James Reasoner: Antii Martikainen: "Saloon Showdown"
Charlie Ricci: Creedence Clearwater Revival: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"; Brinsley Schwarz: Thinking Back: The Anthology 1970-1975; The Saw Doctors and Petula Clark: "Downtown"; J. D. McPherson: Signs and Signifiers; Muireann Bradley: I Kept These Old Blues; People!: I Love You; Billy Joel: Turn the Lights Back On; Arthur Alexander: Lonely Just Like Me; Spacehog: "In the Meantime"; The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen
Melanie Safka and Johnny Cash: "Silver Threads and Golden Needles"
Friday, March 8, 2024
SSW/FFB: HITCHCOCK IN PRIME TIME edited by Francis M. Nevins, Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg (Avon 1985)
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
SSW: Ellen Gilchrist: "Black Winter", THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, June 1995, edited by Kristine K. Rusch and Edward Ferman: Short Story Wednesday
Patti Abbott having posted a link in her consideration of another story by my choice of SSW author this week, I've just read the obituary for Ellen Gilchrist (1935-2024) from the New York Times by one Adam Nossiter, who gives the impression of resenting having to take a lesser role as obituarist after having been four times a bureau chief in the NYT hierarchy, or perhaps simply resents having to write one for a National Book Award winner he doesn't approve of. Gilchrist, to my knowledge, was not a great self-promoter, and if she diminished herself in her memoirs and some commentary over the years, Nossiter seems keen on making sure that's intensified in his not-quite-screed.
"Black Winter" (which can be read here) was Gilchrist's second and last story in F&SF, after her charming fantasy "The Green Tent" in the November 1985 issue (a grandmother and her grandson take the equivalent of a magic carpet ride in title device), and it's a far less cheerful item, a rather (necessarily) grim but not quite hopeless account of two survivors of a 1996 nuclear war, academics, an older woman named Rhoda (possibly not the same Rhoda who is a recurring character in earlier stories by Gilchrist) and her younger male protege Tannin, whom we meet several days after the short war, as they seek out what they can from various abandoned stores and gas stations in the midwest, keeping away from large cities in an abundance of (sensible) caution. Rhoda is writing the story in the form of a letter to her grandson, whom she hopes is still alive (but has no way of knowing, if so), in Germany; the colleagues get along, wondering if the fallout will eventually come down upon them in deadly form...and they meet up with some interesting folks with whom they can make some common cause. Rhoda had been noting with some concern the hotspots recurring in the news in 1996: Russia, Ukraine, Iran, North Korea. Things don't change so very much three decades later.
I had never picked up a copy of the June 1995 issue of F&SF, for whatever reason (I was moving into my last Virginia apartment, at least so far, about then), so I've just read the story for the first time tonight. I read "The Green Tent" when that issue was new, not so very long after I first read her work with "The Famous Poll at Jody's Bar" in The Atlantic Monthly for August 1982, one of her earlier publications.
It's a fine story, and makes its points well, and it (like "The Green Tent") has never been reprinted, as far as I can tell, anywhere but in an anthology in translation, by the former publisher of the German edition of F&SF (much as "The Green Tent" has only been reprinted, as far as I see, in Fiction, the French edition of F&SF).
I've been meaning to write about Gilchrist's collection The Cabal and Other Stories for a good six or seven years, but I'll have to excavate that volume and finish it. It really has been a tough year on writers I admire.
For more of today's short stories, please see Patti Abbott's blog, and her fine review of Gilchrist's "The Presidency of the Louisiana Live Oak Society".
And I'll seek out some less contemptuous obituaries than the Times's.
- 6 • The Green Tent • short story by Ellen Gilchrist
- 12 • Books (F&SF, November 1985) • [Books (F&SF)] • essay by Algis Budrys
- 12 • Review: Free Live Free by Gene Wolfe • review by Algis Budrys
- 15 • Review: The Book of Sorrows by Walter Wangerin, Jr. • review by Algis Budrys
- 17 • Review: Skeleton Crew by Stephen King • review by Algis Budrys
- 20 • You Never Asked My Name • short story by Brian W. Aldiss
- 34 • The Black and Tan Man • novelette by Cooper McLaughlin
- 67 • Cartoon: "Enjoy the ratrace dear." • interior artwork by Joseph Farris
- 68 • Six of Swords • short story by Gregor Hartmann
- 75 • Cartoon: "Some Blondes Have More Fun in Republics Your Majesty." • interior artwork by Alexis A. Gilliland [as by Alexis Gilliland]
- 76 • Sport of Kings • novelette by Edward F. Shaver
- 94 • Coming Soon (F&SF, November 1985) • essay by uncredited
- 95 • In Which Numerous Ends (Loose) are Tied Up; Some in the Configuration of a Noose (Hangman's) • [Harlan Ellison's Watching] • essay by Harlan Ellison
- 101 • See Me Safely Home • (1984) • short story by Richard Wilson
- 113 • The High Purpose • short story by Barry N. Malzberg and Carter Scholz
- 129 • The Biochemical Knife Blade • [Asimov's Essays: F&SF] • essay by Isaac Asimov
- 140 • The Persistence of Memory • novelette by Gael Baudino
- 158 • F&SF Competition: Report on Competition 38 • essay by uncredited
- 5 • Editorial (F&SF, June 1995) • [Editorial (F&SF)] • essay by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- 10 • Black Winter • short story by Ellen Gilchrist
- 25 • Books (F&SF, June 1995) • [Books (F&SF)] • essay by Robert K. J. Killheffer
- 26 • Review: Résumé with Monsters by William Browning Spencer • review by Robert K. J. Killheffer
- 29 • Review: The Unnatural by David Prill • review by Robert K. J. Killheffer
- 33 • Review: The Armless Maiden by Terri Windling • review by Charles de Lint
- 33 • Books to Look For (F&SF, June 1995) • [Books to Look for] • essay by Charles de Lint
- 37 • Cartoon: "You make decisions all day now it's time to relax! 'Let Fate Decide': The Ouija Menu." • interior artwork by John Jonik
- 38 • Spirit Guides • (1995) • short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- 51 • Cruising Through Deuteronomy • short story by Jack McDevitt
- 56 • These Beasts • short story by Tanith Lee
- 66 • Cartoon: "Take a good look at the enemy, gentlemen." • interior artwork by Arthur Masear
- 67 • Coyote Stories • [Newford] • (1993) • short story by Charles de Lint
- 74 • Films: A Flop About a Failure • [Films (F&SF)] • essay by Kathi Maio
- 80 • The String • novelette by Kathleen Ann Goonan
- 98 • For Richer, for Stranger • short story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- 109 • Cartoon: "Since the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence doesn't seem to be getting anywhere ..." • interior artwork by S. Harris
- 110 • The Fourth Dimension • [A Scientist's Notebook] • essay by Gregory Benford
- 122 • The Spine Divers • [Dilvermoon] • novella by Ray Aldridge
- 160 • Cartoon: "You're lucky. I couldn't find anything off the rack. I have to have my suits custom made." • interior artwork by Joseph Farris
- 162 • Coming Attractions (F&SF, June 1995) • essay by uncredited
- bep • Cartoon: "Terrestrial, aquatic ... we're all mammals - even Dr. Quark." • interior artwork by S. Harris
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Friday's "Forgotten" Books: THE BEST OF SHADOWS edited by Charles L. Grant (Doubleday Foundation 1988); SIXTY YEARS OF GREAT FICTION FROM PARTISAN REVIEW edited by William Phillips (Partisan Review Press 1996)
Two anthologies with content that is difficult to dismiss, if one was even to try.
Sixty Years of Great Fiction from Partisan Review edited by William Phillips (Partisan Review Press, 1996 [or 1/97], ISBN 0-644377-5-9; $24.95. 425+xx pp, hc); jacket/pb cover painting by Helen Frankenthaler
xix * Introduction * William Phillips * in
3 * Two Syllables * Ignazio Silone; translated by Samuel Putnam * ss Partisan Review October 1936 (V. 3#6)
- ix · Introduction · Charles L. Grant · in 1988
- 1 · Naples · Avram Davidson · ss Shadows ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1978
- 11 · The Gorgon · Tanith Lee · nv Shadows 5 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1982
- 33 · Moving Night · Nancy Holder · ss Shadows 9 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1986
- 39 · Jamie’s Grave · Lisa Tuttle · ss Shadows 10 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1987
- 57 · Sneakers · Marc Laidlaw · ss Shadows 6 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1983
- 63 · The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands · Stephen King · ss Shadows 4 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1981
- 83 · At the Bureau · Steve Rasnic Tem · vi Shadows 3 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1980
- 89 · Mackintosh Willy · Ramsey Campbell · ss Shadows 2 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1979
- 107 · Following the Way · Alan Ryan · ss Shadows 5 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1982
- 121 · The Storm · David Morrell · ss Shadows 7 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1984
- 139 · The Silent Cradle · Leigh Kennedy · ss Shadows 6 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1983
- 153 · Wish · Al Sarrantonio · ss Shadows 8 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1985
- 165 · The Spider Glass [Comte de Saint Germain] · Chelsea Quinn Yarbro · nv Shadows 4 ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1981
- 207 · Appendix A—Shadows by Volume · [uncredited] · bi 1988
- 213 · Appendix B—Shadows by Author · [uncredited] · bi 1988
Archive
.org:
this volume online.
- vii • Introduction (Shadows) • essay by Charles L. Grant
- 1 • Naples • short story by Avram Davidson
- 8 • The Little Voice • novelette by Ramsey Campbell
- 26 • Butcher's Thumb • short story by William John Watkins [as by William Jon Watkins]
- 35 • Where All the Songs Are Sad • novelette by Thomas F. Monteleone
- 63 • Splinters • short story by R. A. Lafferty
- 76 • Picture • short story by Robert Bloch
- 83 • The Nighthawk • short story by Dennis Etchison
- 99 • Dead Letters • short story by Ramsey Campbell
- 104 • A Certain Slant of Light • short story by Raylyn Moore
- 116 • Deathlove • short story by Bill Pronzini
- 124 • Mory • novelette by Michael Bishop
- 142 • Where Spirits Gat Them Home • short story by John Crowley (variant of Her Bounty to the Dead)
- 151 • Nona • [Castle Rock] • novelette by Stephen King