rick (02/14/83)
Is it really true that Kurt Vonnegut wrote "Venus on the Half-Shell"? I had heard (from what I considered fairly well informed sources) that "Venus on the Half-Shell" was really written by Jose Farmer. Vonnegut had declared his characters to be independent in one of his books, and Farmer apparently couldn't resist... For those of you not familiar with Trout's seedy history, he was a Science Fiction writer that appeared in many of Vonnegut's stories and who never seemed to be able to get his worked published except as filler in the pages of "Men's" magazines. "Venus..." is reputed to be his rescue from obscurity. Regardless of the author, "Venus on the Half-Shell" is one of the best parodies that I have ever read. I would recommend it highly to anyone who liked HHGttG (keeping in mind the fact that it has a Farmer-ish sexual slant, for those who are disturbed by that). I don't consider them related, though. The tones are somewhat the same, as is the general philisophical view of the universe, but neither relies in any obvious way on the other. rick floyd (seismo | allegra)!rochester!rick P.S. This is not an invitation to a slander suit. All information presented here should be considered to be completely insubstantiated and none of it is intended to be malicious.
porges (02/15/83)
#N:inmet:8100002:000:275 inmet!porges Feb 14 11:04:00 1983 Contrary to reasonable popular belief, "Venus on the Half-Shell" is not by Vonnegut himself, but by someone else -- I think I read Lin Carter -- presumably with permission of KV Jr. -- Don Porges ...harpo!inmet!porges ...hplabs!sri-unix!cca!ima!inmet!porges
bts (02/16/83)
It was Philip Jose Farmer, the same one who did the Riverworld books. Neither of these (except the first Riverworld) is among his best.