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"If this is your first taste of Howard, I envy you."--From the Introduction by George R.R. Martin Acclaimed cult author Waldrop''s stories are sophisticated, magical recombinations of the stuff our pop-culture dreams are made of. Open this book and encounter jazz singers, robotic cartoon ducks, nosferatu, angry gorillas, and, of course, the dodo. The first paperback (and twentieth anniversary) edition of a landmark debut collection. Waldrop''s capacious, encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes, baseball players, world wars, long-dead film stars, Mexican wrestlers, pulp serials, and fairy tales is put to good use in these sophisticated re-combinations of oddball television shows, radio plays, scientific expeditions, extinct species, knock-knock jokes, and questions like these: * What if the dodo wasn''t extinct after all? * What if sumo wrestlers could defeat their opponents with the power of the mind? * What if Izaak Walton and John Bunyan went fishing for Leviathan in the Slough of Despond? Never published in paperback, long out of print, and extremely collectible,Howard Who? was Waldrop''s seminal debut collection. If you haven''t read Waldrop before, you''re in for a treat. "The best Waldrops tend to mix the humorous and wistful.... Italo Calvino once said that he was "known as an author who changes greatly from one book to the next. And in these very changes you recognize him as himself." Much the same could be said of Howard Waldrop. You never know what he''ll come up with next, but somehow it''s always a Waldrop story. Read the work of this wonderful writer, a man who has devoted his life to his art -- and to fishing." --Michael Dirda,Washington Post "A charming collection." --Los Angeles Times "Back in print after so many years,Howard Who? remains a terrific collection of short stories. There is nobody else alive writing stories as magnificently strange, deliriously inventive, and utterly wonderful as Howard Waldrop." --Metrobeat Table of Contents Introduction by George R. R. Martin. The Ugly Chickens Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen Ike at the Mike Dr. Hudson''s Secret Gorilla . . . the World, as we Know''t Green Brother Mary Margaret Road-Grader "Save A Place in the Lifeboat for Me Horror, We Got Man-Mountain Gentian God''s Hooks Heirs of the Perisphere Praise for Howard Waldrop: "Clever, humorous, idiosyncratic, oddball, personal, wild, and crazy." --Library Journal "Wise and funny." --Publishers Weekly "An authentic master of gonzo sf and fantasy." --Booklist "Erudite and gonzo." --Science Fiction Weekly "Waldrop subtly mutates the past, extrapolating the changes into some of the most insightful, and frequently amusing, stories being written today, in or out of the science fiction genre." --The Houston Post/Sun "The man''s a national treasure!" --Locus "The resident Weird Mind of his generation, he writes like a honkytonk angel." --Washington Post Book World About the Author: Howard Waldrop, born in Mississippi and now living in Austin, Texas, is an American iconoclast. His highly original books includeThem Bones andA Dozen Tough Jobs, and the collectionsAll About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past, Night of the Cooters, and Going Home Again. He won the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards for his novelette "The Ugly Chickens."… (more)
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It consists of the following stories.
The Ugly Chickens
This story won the Nebula and the World Fantasy awards as well as being nominated for a Hugo.
It puts forth the question What if the Dodo hadn't
Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen
I have no idea what this story was about, but I was never the less tremendously entertained by it.
Ike at the Mike
Did you ever wonder how the world would be different if Eisenhower and Patton had been in a band with Louis Armstrong rather than leading the allies in Europe? Well Me neither, but Howard did, and its a wonderful story.
Dr. Hudson's Secret Gorilla
Classic old school horror movie plot. Or old school bugs bunny cartoon either way .
. . . the World, as we Know't
I don't see the word Phlogiston used enough anymore. This story is a cautionary tale of a science experiment gone bad. Really, Really, horribly bad.
Green Brother
This is the first of two Native American centered stories. I much preferred the next one.
Mary Margaret Road Grader
Or Mad Max meets the county fair. This is a post apocalyptic story where Native American again rule the plains of the US, and they engage in tractor pulls.
"Save A Place in the Lifeboat for Me
Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and others are sent to prevent "The day the music died." This was also one of my favorites perhaps because I've been to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake IA many times.
Horror, We Got
You've got to love a time travel tale crossed with a Zionist conspiracy don't you? I loved this story.
Man-Mountain Gentian
Zen Sumo. 'nuff said.
God's Hooks
Izaak Walton goes fishing for a nightmare.
Heirs of the Perisphere
Another post apocalyptic tale. This time Mickey, Goofy, and Donald are the only survivors and they are trying to figure out why no one is coming to Disneyland.
I enjoyed this collection, but I've found I have a hard time getting into reading short fiction. I have a zone I get into in a book I really like, and short stories are over before I ever get to that point. Its much more of a chore to read short fiction for me. But taking that into account the writing itself is very good. Waldrop is very eclectic, and is certainly a master of the short story.
8 out of 10
The Ugly Chickens - About the last of the Dodo's - Hilarious and Sad all at the same time.
Der Untergang des Abenlandesmenschen - Dracula story set in Nazi Germany.
Ike at the Mike - I liked it - alternate
Dr. Hudson's Secret Gorilla - Mad scientist switches Ape and Human Brain. Enjoyable, a bit cliched (or maybe it was the original)
"... The World, As We Know't." - Victorian Science Experiment gone horribly horribly wrong. A good story, rather horrific in the outcome.
Green Brother - In which a medicine man grandfather saves his grandson in the grandest way possible - Good story with an unexpected savior.
Mary Margaret Road-Grader - a tale set in a post apocalyptic tale of how the last of the large machines are used. Story about how society is changing, and maybe for the better. Good story.
Save a Place in the Lifeboat for Me. - I didn't understand this story. I get that it was about the fate of Buddy Holly, but I'm not exactly sure who these people were. It might be that I'm not of the right generation.
Horror, We Got - This story is horrible. Its sad, its despicable, it is disgusting. It know that there is satire involved, a bit like Jonathan Swift's "A Simple Proposal", but still, not a good story.
Man-Mountain Gentian - Sumo wrestling, Zen style. Another story I didn't really get - it was well written, but the story didn't interest me.
God's Fish - story about a really big fish and religion. Uninteresting.
Heirs of the Perisphere - Another post-apocalyptic story about robots trying to find there place in the world. Sad, but also ends on a happy note.