From archive (archive) Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.sf-lovers:15969 rec.arts.books:5517 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!crdgw1!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnewsj!ecl From: ecl@cbnewsj.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers,rec.arts.books Subject: AUTHOR'S CHOICE MONTHLY 8: James Morrow Message-ID: <1990Sep24.171830.1145@cbnewsj.att.com> Date: 24 Sep 90 17:18:30 GMT Followup-To: rec.arts.sf-lovers Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 51 AUTHOR'S CHOICE MONTHLY 8: James Morrow Pulphouse, 1990, $4.95. A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1990 Evelyn C. Leeper Pulphouse Publishing is issuing a series of "Author's Choice" books-- stories selected by the author rather than by an editor. This slim volume contains seven of Morrow's short stories, including one never before published ("Bible Stories for Adults, No. 20: The Tower"). The other six are "The Assemblage of Kristin," "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge," "The Eye That Never Blinks," "The Confessions of Ebenezer Scrooge," "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant," and "Spelling God with the Wrong Blocks"; there is also an introduction by Morrow. What the stories have in common (besides being selected by Morrow) is that they are all religious in nature (some might say irreligious). Of course, this is true of much of Morrow's writing, and certainly of his latest novel, ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER. Still, the trend is not so obvious until one sees the pieces collected in one volume. Morrow may question the traditional religions, and certainly his "Bible Stories for Adults" do that, but his works also display a more deeply religious tone than do many whose religion is more conventional. This is not to say there aren't logical problems in some of the stories. In "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant," Morrow postulates an alternate world in which Moses couldn't get a replacement set of tablets for the ones he smashed on the golden calf, so the world proceeded with the Ten Commandments. Morrow then sets up a scenario where the tablets are reconstructed by one computer, but another computer claims that these commandments will be mis-interpreted to lead to, well, our world. For example, "Thou shalt not kill" will be interpreted to first say, "Thou shalt not kill unnecessarily" and so on until it eventually leads to a weapons race, to which the first asks "What are weapons?" Morrow overlooks that many civilizations who had never heard of the Ten Commandments seem to have had weapons (and weapons races). (And also that the original Hebrew of the commandment is better translated "murder" than "kill," which means the "unnecessarily" is already there.) But perhaps in the context of these stories this is an unreasonable quibble. And the story I picked is the one with the largest holes in it. Though he plans some day to produce an entire book of "Bible Stories for Adults," don't wait--buy this now. (For those of you interested in the physical look and feel of a book as well as it's contents, I recommend Pulphouse books; they have a wonderful parchment-like cover and cream- colored pages which are a joy to hold as well as to read. And the cost is the same as your usual cheapy paperback. Your local bookstore almost definitely won't carry this, and there is no ISBN, so you can order direct from Pulphouse Publishing, P. O. Box 1227, Eugene OR 97440.) Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908-957-2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From rec.arts.sf-reviews Tue Aug 27 22:48:53 1991 Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.sf-reviews:67 rec.arts.books:16447 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!ugle.unit.no!nuug!ifi.uio.no!sics.se!fuug!mcsun!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!know!mtgzy.att.com!ecl From: ecl@mtgzy.att.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-reviews,rec.arts.books Subject: ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow Message-ID: <31624@know.pws.bull.com> Date: 25 Aug 91 15:43:00 GMT Sender: news@pws.bulL.com Reply-To: ecl@mtgzy.att.com Followup-To: rec.arts.books Lines: 77 Approved: wex@pws.bull.com Original-From: mtgzy!ecl (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070) ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow Review Copyright (c) 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper [Cross-posted to rec.arts.books as well as rec.arts.sf-reviews at ECL's request. Followups directed to rec.arts.books. Bib. info at eFrom rec.arts.sf-reviews Tue Aug 27 22:49:56 1991 Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.sf-reviews:67 rec.arts.books:16447 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!ugle.unit.no!nuug!ifi.uio.no!sics.se!fuug!mcsun!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!know!mtgzy.att.com!ecl From: ecl@mtgzy.att.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-reviews,rec.arts.books Subject: ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow Message-ID: <31624@know.pws.bull.com> Date: 25 Aug 91 15:43:00 GMT Sender: news@pws.bulL.com Reply-To: ecl@mtgzy.att.com Followup-To: rec.arts.books Lines: 77 Approved: wex@pws.bull.com Original-From: mtgzy!ecl (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070) ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER by James Morrow Review Copyright (c) 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper [Cross-posted to rec.arts.books as well as rec.arts.sf-reviews at ECL's request. Followups directed to rec.arts.books. Bib. info at end --AW] God is alive and well and living in New Jersey (Brigantine Point, to be precise). If that seems unlikely, it's because you haven't read James Morrow's ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER. If one takes as a premise that God had a son two thousand years ago (and I've accepted far more outre ideas for the sake of a story), then Morrow's extrapolation makes sense. Last time a male was born to a female without male assistance. But God is an equal opportunity employer, and so this time a female is born to a male with female assistance. (Well, science helps.) The last one was Jesus Christ; this one is Julie Katz. The last was wonderful (according to the official version); this one is a regular hell-raiser (so to speak). A modern-day (literal) daughter of God is likely to face some problems growing up, and Julie is no exception. Her life is complicated by the growing tide of Christian fundamentalism. In a skillful parody of the story of Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, Morrow has the fundamentalists first appear when they blow up a sperm bank and research center and almost destroy Julie, who is saved only because her father fled with her, or rather with the jar with her embryo, shortly before the attack. His use of a Saab instead of a donkey as the getaway vehicle is merely another nod to the 20th Century. Julie grows up, is tempted by the Devil, meets up with her brother (half-brother?), and through it all seeks for her mother. (Well, everyone makes God in his or her own image, right?) Her life parallels that of the last of God's offspring, but with a modern twist. Julie see things more >from a 58th Century perspective than from a 38th Century one, more from an American than an Aramaic. Through it all, Morrow centers on the human aspects of religion. He shows us the potential for good and the potential for evil present in any major religious movement. In this, Morrow continues a theme he has used in previous works, notably his "Bible Stories for Adults." In one way, ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER is similar to Nikos Kazantzakis's LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST: it allows the child of God to be very human. Now, my feeling is that if the claim is that 2000 years ago God's son became human to share in human suffering, then it is not unreasonable to give him human faults, frailties, and feelings. If he had no human feelings, then he was not really human. Morrow seems to agree with this, and Julie is definitely human. This sounds as if it could be heavy-handed and preachy -- certainly the film version of THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST was -- but Morrow displays a much subtler touch than he has in some of his previous works (notably THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS) and the result is thought- provoking rather than authoritarian. ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER will not appeal to people who either reject religion outright (though as I said, more far-fetched premises have been accepted in science fiction and fantasy--look at all the gods and goddesses in THE ILIAD, and people still read that) or who take their religion so seriously that they allow for no leeway in its examination. A third set, of course, may be those who are unfamiliar with the story Morrow is paralleling. In our ever-diversifying United States, this is becoming a readership to be reckoned with. But for the reader who wants to take a new look at an old legend, I highly recommend ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER. The fact that writing science fiction about religion limits one's audience in the ways I described means that not many people are doing it, more's the pity, and among those brave souls Morrow is one of the best. %T ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER %A James Morrow %C New York %D July 1991 %I Ace %O paperback, US$4.50 [copyright 1990] %G ISBN 0-441-63041-3 %P 312pp Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sat Jun 27 13:15:48 1992 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic2!mcsun!uunet!sun-barr!ames!ig!mtgzy.att.com From: ecl@mtgzy.att.com (Evelyn C Leeper +1 908 957 2070) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: CITY OF TRUTH by James Morrow Message-ID: <9206261958.AA24190@presto.ig.com> Date: 26 Jun 92 19:56:00 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Lines: 56 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) CITY OF TRUTH by James Morrow A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1992 Evelyn C. Leeper In the 1950s C. M. Kornbluth wrote two classic stories which centered around lying as a way of life: "The Marching Morons" and THE SPACE MERCHANTS (the latter co-authored with Frederik Pohl). Whether Morrow's novella is a response (of sorts) to these, or just the result of being quoted John 8:32* once too often, I cannot say. But Morrow has given us a society in which everyone tells the truth, everyone knows the truth, and it does not set them free. Veritas (the "City of Truth" of the title) would seem to be following perfectly Kant's categorical imperative ("Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a general law of nature"), which might lead the reader to question whether Kant's "Metaphysical Foundations of Morals" might not need a few revisions. It is the rare science fiction book today that takes on both the New testament AND Immanuel Kant, which is probably reason enough to read the book. But Morrow manages to write a very funny book even while examining these weighty issues. When one character asks her husband whether he copulates with a lot of women to strengthen their marriage, he says no, he just likes to ejaculate inside other women. I also liked the aptly named Camp Ditch-the-Kids. In fact, it's probably Morrow's injection of honesty into the advertising and mercantile aspects of society that reminds me of Kornbluth. There is much, much more, but to tell it would ruin a lot of the enjoyment of the book. But it's not all humor and jokes. Morrow constructs a situation in which the main character needs something besides the truth--he needs the hope and innocence that lies (of commission or of omission) can bring. And he finds that he is not alone in this need. In the end, it is not the truth that sets him free, but the lies. Morrow is writing some of the most thought-provoking short fiction today, and I highly recommend his work in general and CITY OF TRUTH in particular. I would nominate this for a Hugo next year, but a British edition appeared in 1990. (In fact, this edition was apparently done from those plates and follows British spelling conventions.) Maybe I'll just lie on the nomination form and hope no one notices. __________ * "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." %T City of Truth %A James Morrow %C New York %D 1990 %I St. Martin's %O hardback, US$14.95 [1992] %G ISBN 0-312-07672-X %P 104pp Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Jul 9 13:18:00 1992 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!sun-barr!ames!ig!ursa-major.spdcc.com From: wex@ursa-major.spdcc.com (Alan Wexelblat) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: "Only Begotten Daughter" Message-ID: <9207071306.AA24605@ursa-major.spdcc.com> Date: 7 Jul 92 23:58:58 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Lines: 40 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) X-Now-Playing: Silence X-Dj-In-The-House: Wex Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow Review Copyright (c) 1992 Alan Wexelblat So, what if God had a daughter? And what if that daughter was born into the modern world, into New Jersey (Atlantic City of all places), to a man named Murray Katz (of course). Julie Katz is for-real divine: she can heal the sick, raise the dead, make refrigerators appear on your porch. What she can't do is cope with the responsibility of her godhood. This book is another in the Big Disappointment series. I think this is one of the truly original ideas I've seen in SF in years. Morrow is a talented, sensitive writer capable of dealing with a topic like this without offending ninety percent of the world's population. But ultimately he chickens out. Julie doesn't do all that much with her divine powers; instead she spends the whole book avoiding them and the responsibility she thinks they bring. I would have liked to see Julie tackle the problems of divinity and the modern world head on. Issues like free will versus determinism and responsibility versus need can make for a deep, moving work. Instead, Morrow takes the "low" road in two senses: he makes the book semi-humorous, ducking the serious themes, and he spends a lot of time with Julie dealing with the Devil, eventually ending up in Hell. I don't want to give the impression that the book is all bad. As I noted, it is an original idea, and Morrow makes Julie Katz a believable modern deity. But having done that, he seems to shy away from global concerns, instead focusing on Julie-in-the-small. The result is not a bad novel, just a disappointing one. And at $4.50, I'd say pick this one up cheap if you can. %T Only Begotten Daughter %A James Morrow %G ISBN 0-441-63041-3 %I Ace paperback %O $4.50 %D 1990 %P 312 pp From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jul 12 15:03:55 1993 Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!pipex!uknet!mcsun!uunet!psinntp!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: reeder@reed.edu (P. Douglas Reeder) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Review of "City of Truth" by James Morrow Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Organization: Div, Grad & Curl Message-ID: <21gsri$jj4@scratchy.reed.edu> Date: 11 Jul 93 13:08:28 GMT Lines: 53 Review of "City of Truth" by James Morrow Review copyright 1993 by P. Douglas Reeder In the city of Veritas, everyone tells the truth (surprise!) because they are conditioned against saying anything untrue, or even disingenuous. Sample ad: "'Channel your violent impulses in a salutary direction - become a Marine...'" Jack Sperry is an art critic, a deconstructionist - he destroys old books, movies, statues and whatever elese is not completely truthful. Martina Coventry writes greeting card messages and such, such as: I find you somewhat interesting, You're not too short or tall, And if you'd be my Valentine, I wouldn't mind at all. Given this setup, I hope you won't be too shocked when Sperry suddenly finds that he needs to lie to his dying son to keep him happy. (This isn't a spoiler; it comes out by page 14., or on the dust jacket if you read that first.) Although the characters are very realistic and believable, "City of Truth" is more parable than fiction. Veritas is not a self-consistent future, it's a warped take on our world. Veritas is a rather grim place and Morrow appears to have a more negative view of people and relationships than I do, but this novella is saved from grimness by Morrow's wickedly funny honest statements, like the quotes above. It is certainly well-written, given it's premise. I should think most people already realize the point Morrow makes by the end of the work, but I suppose some don't. And, oh, yes, "City of Truth" won the 1992 Nebula for best novella. If you decide to read this book, see if this review is not completely truthful! %T City of Truth %A James Morrow %D copyright 1990 %I St. Martin's %C New York %O hardback, US$14.95 [1992] %G ISBN 0-312-07672-X %P 104 pp %K SF,parable,truth -- Doug Reeder Internet: reeder@reed.edu Div, Grad & Curl USENET: ...!tektronix!reed!reeder programming & derivative work Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!news.cais.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!uhog.mit.edu!news!news From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Subject: Review: BIBLE STORIES FOR ADULTS by James Morrow Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Keywords: author=Evelyn C Leeper Lines: 80 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu (Graystreak) Organization: Intelligent Agents Group X-Newsreader: (ding) Gnus v0.94 Date: Mon, 22 Apr 1996 22:24:30 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Lines: 80 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:933 rec.arts.books.reviews:1562 BIBLE STORIES FOR ADULTS by James Morrow A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1996 Evelyn C. Leeper Everyone needs their traditions. For me, these include reading Kim Stanley Robinson's "'History of the Twentieth Century, with Illustrations'" on New Year's Eve and James Morrow's "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 31: The Covenant" on Passover. Now the problem is that I'll end up reading all the other stories in this volume at the same time. This is a *great* collection. There are twelve stories in this book. Four are Morrow's traditional "Bible Stories for Adults": Numbers 17 (The Deluge), 20 (The Tower), 31 (The Covenant), and 46 (The Soap Opera). The other eight have varying degrees of connection to the Bible. In his preface, Morrow categorizes these and gives what he sees as the connections between them and the Bible or religion. While there is obviously some validity in what he says, there are other connections to be drawn as well. For example, while "The Confessions of Ebenezer Scrooge" may ask, as Morrow says, "whether charity alone can exorcise the demons that drive monopoly capitalism," it also serves as a companion piece to "Bible Stories for Adults, Number 46: The Soap Opera," examining justification. Or perhaps it connects to "Bible Stories for Adults, Number 20: The Covenant," looking at what motivates human behavior. Is "Daughter Earth" a miniature version of "Diary of a Mad Diety"- --or is it the other way around? Morrow says that "The Assemblage of Kristin" looks at the mystery of consciousness, but it's also about death and resurrection. If Morrow's traditional "Bible Stories" are telling us that we have gotten it all wrong, what is he trying to say with "Spelling God with the Wrong Blocks"? And to be honest, one might ask what "Known But to God and Wilbur Hines," "Abe Lincoln in McDonald's," or "Arms and the Woman" have to do with Bible stories. On the other hand, they're great stories, so who cares? In fact, I was surprised to discover that the only award nomination for these stories was a Nebula nomination [and win] for "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge." There are at least a couple of other stories which are at least as good as anything nominated in their years. Morrow manages to put into words feelings that many readers will recognize that they had but never formalized. The most obvious example, to me, is "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 46: The Soap Opera," where he looks at the real meaning of the story of Job and comes to a conclusion that will have many readers shouting, "Right on!" Maybe this is what connects all these stories: their ability to make us look at what we have always been taught and ask what it really means and if it's really true. In this context, even the stories that seem at first unconnected fall into place as examinations of beliefs and belief systems. What motivates the people in all these stories is a belief system, perhaps not Biblical, but certainly ones that could be labeled religious. Morrow shows us that these belief systems have implications that many proponents would prefer to gloss over. If I were to suggest a companion piece for these stories, it might well be Mark Twain's "War Prayer." I've avoided saying too much about the stories themselves, because I feel they will have the most impact if you don't know a lot about them beforehand. But I will say that I highly recommend this book. I suppose I should provide a caveat here. If you are distressed by a frank look at your religious beliefs, you may not find this to your tastes. But then, you probably knew that. Also being reprinted by Harcourt Brace at the same time is Morrow's novel ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER, the perfect companion piece for this collection. %T Bible Stories for Adults %A James Morrow %C New York %D 1996 %I Harcourt Brace (Harvest) %O trade paperback, US$12 %G ISBN 0-15-600244-2 %P 243pp Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | eleeper@lucent.com "Enveloped in a common mist, we seem to walk in clearness ourselves, and behold only the mist that enshrouds others." --George Eliot, "Leaves from a Note-Book" Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!newsfeed.sunet.se!news00.sunet.se!sunic!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!usenet From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Subject: Review: BLAMELESS IN ABADDON by James Morrow Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 02 Oct 1996 10:58:07 -0400 Organization: Intelligent Agents Group Lines: 56 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu (Graystreak) Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Keywords: author=Evelyn C Leeper X-Newsreader: (ding) Gnus v0.94 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1102 rec.arts.books.reviews:2018 BLAMELESS IN ABADDON by James Morrow A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1996 Evelyn C. Leeper BLAMELESS IN ABADDON is the sequel to TOWING JEHOVAH. In that book, the corpse of God has been found, and a disgraced tanker captain is hired to haul it to the Arctic. In BLAMELESS IN ABADDON, the corpse has somehow ended up as the main attraction in a religious theme park cum miraculous shrine. Justice of the Peace Martin Candle hears there is neural activity in God's brain and decides to bring this most infamous criminal to justice. This is part of the age-old attempt to find an answer to mystery of suffering, and in the book, it is clear that Morrow has done his homework in researching the theologians who have attempted to answer this question, at least from a Jewish or Christian perspective -- one might argue that finding "Jehovah" means one needn't look at Buddhist or Hindu explanations, but a few Islamic sources might have been nice. On the other hand, it's unlikely the characters involved would have access to or inclination to look for these. The person defending Jehovah is based on C. S. Lewis, and the story also involves scrabble-playing dinosaurs. As Morrow quotes from Dostoyevsky, "If everything on Earth were rational, nothing would happen." We also find out that God is a Platonist. Morrow has said that he enjoys writing this sort of work in the genre, because "science fiction makes very literal what in other fiction is metaphorical." He also said that it might be nice if people took these things more seriously here -- not "it's just a novel" -- but on the other hand, he appreciated being able to write a novel such as this without having to go into hiding as Salman Rushdie did. I would certainly recommend that you read TOWING JEHOVAH before reading this, but then I would recommend that you read TOWING JEHOVAH in any case. After all, it was nominated for a Hugo, which is a pretty amazing achievement for a story more cerebral than action-packed. Morrow writes books that are thought-provoking and entertaining, and this is certainly both of those. Morrow is now working on a third book, titled THE ETERNAL FOOTMAN. However, this book does not end on a cliff-hanger. %T Blameless in Abaddon %A James Morrow %C New York %D August 1996 %I Harcourt Brace & Company %O hardback, US$24 %G ISBN 0-15-188656-3 %P 404pp %S Jehovah %V 2 Evelyn C. Leeper | eleeper@lucent.com +1 908 957 2070 | http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824 "El sueno de la razon produce monstruos." --caption to plate 43 of Goya's "Caprichios" Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!enews.sgi.com!news.sgi.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: Kevin Lauderdale Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: The Kevindex Reviews: BLAMELESS IN ABADDON by James Morrow Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 12 Nov 1996 05:01:12 GMT Organization: Stanford University Lines: 58 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Blameless in Abaddonby James Morrow Review Copyright 1996 by Kevin Lauderdale BLAMELESS IN ABADDON is a sequel of sorts to James Morrow's brilliant and justifiably award-winning novel TOWING JEHOVAH. JEHOVAH dealt with the efforts to move God's body once He died. As ABADDON opens, the corpse has been made part of a Baptist theme park. When neural activity is discovered cancer victim, and Justice of the Peace in the town of Abaddon, Martin Candle sues the Corpus Dei for His crimes against humanity. It's not necessary to read JEHOVAH first, all of the salient points are revealed. ABADDON is a very different novel from its predecessor. To begin with, it's narrated by the Devil. That gives it a nice edge of irony, but it's not as amusing as JEHOVAH. There *are* great spots in ABADDON. The theme park, for instance, features not only God, but a David and Goliath slingshot competition, a Chariots of Ezekiel ferris wheel, and a Four Horseman of the Apocalypse carousel. Morrow knows how to satirize commercialism like no one else. But this novel is largely an epic catalog of disasters, injustices, tragedies, and sorrows. Prior to, and during, the trial, dozens of horrific events are recounted, from fictional individual medical tragedies afflicting children to actual rampaging natural disasters from the past which have killed thousands. The disaster material makes for interesting reading, but it's less engaging than Morrow's other works. Additionally, the basic conceit -- suing God -- is more difficult to accept that the first book's -- moving a giant corpse. For instance, the protagonists at one point explore God's brain. There they encounter Platonic Ideals -- The Perfect Chair, the Perfect Tree. Morrow really strains credulity when his characters then encounter talking dinosaur archetypes, one named Vivien. JEHOVAH was a satirical disaster/action novel that just happened to have at its center the corpse of God. ABADDON is out and out fantasy. There's less fun here, because the characters aren't behaving "realistically" or, if they are, lawyers are a lot less entertaining than I thought. It isn't even very gripping court room drama. What we end up with is a collection of well written set-pieces of dialog that cover exhaustively the eternal question: why does God allow suffering? I don't know if it's possible to write a book about God's motives without limiting God in some way, lest your topic otherwise be too vast. This Morrow does. His experts, references, and arguments concern themselves almost exclusively with the Judeo-Christian God. Of course, since God turns out to be a Platonist, that blows most of the world's religions out of the running anyway. ABADDON is not Morrow's best work, but his second-rate still beats almost anyone else's personal best. Morrow has said that he's working on a third book in this series. Perhaps it will involve God returning to life. I know of another book (actually four novellas) with that plot. If Morrow gets even a fraction of *that* book's readers, it's no more than he deserves. %D 1996 %G 0-15-188656-3 This and other reviews may be found at the Kevindex Web Page http://smi.Stanford.EDU/people/kxl/Webazine.html Available by e-mail: kxl@smi.stanford.edu (Subject: Subscribe Kevindex) Available free by post: Kevin Lauderdale, MSOB x-215, Stanford, CA 94305-5479, USA From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Aug 18 15:22:55 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news-stkh.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!sn.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!enews.sgi.com!news.sgi.com!eecs-usenet-02.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: agapow@latcs1.cs.latrobe.edu.au (p-m agapow) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: "Bible Stories For Adults" by James Morrow Date: 22 Jul 1997 17:15:26 GMT Organization: Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Biologists Lines: 52 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1445 "Bible Stories For Adults" by James Morrow A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow A collection of short stories, including: "Daughter Earth," a farming couple give birth to a biosphere; "Arms and the Woman," Helen of Troy tells how it really happened; "The Covenant," a supercomputer re-assembles the shards of the stone tablets bearing the commandments; "Spelling God With the Wrong Blocks," a pair of missionaries try to convince a race of androids that they were created not evolved. It's a tough job to review any James Morrow piece, especially this one. Although not without fault, those that "Bible Stories for Adults" has are so minor as to be negligible. In balance it has many, many good things going for it. The main topic, as one would guess from the title, is religion, although Morrow extends this to related thoughts like morality, knowledge and mind. His exploration of these themes contains a rare combination of thought, imagination and humour. In "The Tower" God decides to finish what he started with the Tower of Babel. "Hi, I'm God, into macroevolution, quantum mechanics and Jewish history." Likewise, in "The Confessions of Ebenezer Scrooge" the ghost of Marley returns to tell Scrooge that some changes must still be made. (Accompanied by the Ghost of Christmas Imperative, Christmas Subjunctive and Christmas Future Perfect, natch.) This sort of treatment is far more entertaining and creative than (say) the broad meanderings of Gore Vidal's "Live From Golgotha." To register a token complaint or two, sometimes Morrow is a little lightweight ("The Assemblage of Kristen") and sometimes his chosen style gets in the way, for example in "The Soap Opera," the story of Job presented as a slightly overextended and whimsical play. Those who insist on science or rich world-building will be disappointed. Morrow, like Harlan Ellison, is not interested in the effects of technology but in SF+F as a device for realising and exploring scenarios. Coupled usually with an economical and easy voice (there are 12 stories in this collection), "Bible Stories" delivers great value for the time invested. Highly recommended, if you can't tell. [****/mustread] and your favourite teacher at highschool on the Sid and Nancy scale. %A James Morrow %T Bible Stories For Adults %I Harcourt Brace %C New York %D 1996 %G ISBN 0-15-600244-2 %P 243pp %O paperback, Aus$14.95 paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse "There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire." [archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/]