- Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Baen Books; paperback / softback edition (1 Jan 1986)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0671319744
- ISBN-13: 978-0671319748
- Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 10.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,036,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Sheer good storytelling ... from opening tragedy to concluding triumph . . . an imaginative and captivating story". -- Publishers Weekly
Product Description
FROM THE CRIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
From the offbeat but razor-edged imagination of Spider Robinson: stranded time travelers; squabbling cosmic warriors; reincarnated rock stars; blind starship pilots; monsters both human and alien; tomorrows formed by today's trends--this Spider weaves a web of wonder.
Sound profound? Nah! Herein we've got a partially-disembodied Brooklynite looking for his, er, bottom half, a past-tense-ignoring player of a certain New York crap game from 1930 running loose in the present, a compendium of the silliest weapons history never had, and plenty more. The warped and the way-out combine in a book that by any name would be...really cool!
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
She sat zazen, concentrating on not concentrating, until it was time to prepare for the appointment. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
She sat zazen, concentrating on not concentrating, until it was time to prepare for the appointment. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a collection of Short Stories written by Spider over the past 3 decades or so. A few of them you may have read if you read his book Antinomy - but several of them are quite new. Some are VERY short.. but complete - lots of variety and suprises.
This was a thouroughly (sp?) enjoyable read and was sufficient to take my mind off of 2 weeks worth of commuting to and from work in London. Spider excells at the suprise ending in his short stories - these suprises are sometimes SO Suprising that you get the distinct impression that you, as a reader, are being asked for too much in terms of believing them.
One of the best short stories I have read in a long time is "By Any Other Name" (I think that was the name of it), the last story in this compilation where Spider's ability to reconstruct a future history in true Heinlein style is particularly good
I maintain that I would like to buy the author and his wife a beer sometime
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Sturgeon would approve.
9 Mar 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Yes, this is a re-release of previously published material, but good luck finding it anywhere else! It took 3 years for Amazon to come up with a used copy of Antinomy for me, and when they did, they wanted $27.00 for it (paperback) and no I didn't buy it. And I have yet to see it in any used book store. Moreover, without your support, authors like Spider Robinson will find it increasingly difficult to stay in business.
And THIS book is WONDERFUL, and worth every penny. I am having trouble thinking of a single instance in which Spider Robinson has ever published a clunker, and some of the stories in this book are among his best, IMO. Melancholy Elephants, Antinomy, Satan's Children, Apogee, and True Minds are among my favorites in the book (I've yet to read the last two). As always, Spider's writing is sensitive, thoughtful, and very, very human, just like the author himself. Strongly influenced by the work and life of Ted Sturgeon (whose work is also a must-read if you haven't yet) his stories are sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, and always a good read. Buy one for yourself, and three to give away.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Ups and Downs Galore
4 Mar 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Here is a collection of short stories by Spider Robinson that have nothing to do with Callahan's Saloon. This is the second of his short story collections without the Irishman's bar. And is as good as the first. Where the first short story book, User Friendly, gave the reader the warm fuzzies wrapped around great SF stories, this book puts the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. From the depressing to the thoughtful, from the punny to the erotic, By Any Other Name, is a book to read. A word of warning, from me, and somewhat from Mr. Robinson, the stories are mixed in a way that there is generally one happy story, then one depressing one. Read a depressing one, then a happy one. You'll end up liking yourself better!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
A must for Spider fans!
27 Feb 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
True, this is a collection of Spider's older work, but those works are out of print. People who shop at used bookstores, instead of paying the extra money (when they can afford to) will put authors out of work. OK, business lecture is over. On to the review
All of the stories in the collection are excellent, but some stand out more than others. The title piece, which incidentally is at the end of the book, _By Any Other Name_, has a protagonist who has descended into the ruins of a post apocalyptic NYC to kill a mad scientist responsible for a plague that killed off most of man kind. In true Spider Robinson style, the base concepts of revenge, killing, fear and who is or isn't one's enemy come ot the forefront. The science takes a back seat to the moral dilemmas, which are deep, and meaningful to anyone at any time.
The rest of the stories share that style. They ask us to question our emotions and our values by presenting people who are forced to do so through such plot devices as a drug that addicts people to tell the truth, perpetual copyrights, and a host of other causes that have unforeseen effects. It is his ability to ask those questions that separates Spider Robinson from so many other Science Fiction authors who craft good stories, but never made me *think* about the deeper things.
For those people out there who agree with the first part of my review on supporting authors by buying their books and not getting a cheaper copy at a used bookstore, try checking out http://www.spiderrobinson.com, and following the amazon dot com link back to here. That way you not only support Spider by buying his book, but also by his amazon dot com affiliate site.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
