KROVETZ@NLM-MCS.ARPA (12/27/82)
From: Bob Krovetz <KROVETZ@NLM-MCS.ARPA> I have recently finished the hugo-winning story "Riders of the Purple Wage" by Philip Jose Farmer. The story is full of puns, and it got me wondering about what other SF stories are especially punny. The following ones come to mind: The Flying Sorcerers by Larry Niven and David Gerrold Callahans Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson Time Travelers, Stricly Cash by Spider Robinson The Magic of Xanth series by Piers Anthony A Loint of Paw by Isaac Asimov (in "Asimov's Mysteries") The Ferdinand Feghoot series that used to be in F&SF (a collection of these was published entitled (I think) "The Compleat Feghoot") In addition, I remember reading a story by Spider Robinson (I think it was in Analog) which had an absolutely TERRIBLE pun regarding P.J. Farmer's Riverworld series. Does anyone know the reference? I'm interested in works that either have a lot of puns or in which the point of the story rests on a pun (as in A Loint of Paw). -------
jmturn (12/30/82)
The Riverworld pun comes from another story by Spider, a Callahan's story to boot. Don't remember the title. Another good book for puns is Stardance, by Jeane and Spider. James
gh (12/31/82)
A lot of Stanislaw Lem's stuff, e.g. Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, is full of puns.
rb (01/04/83)
Asimov has a few other (very) short stories which exist just to make a pun. Sorry, I can't remember any titles. -Ronen
jrb (01/05/83)
Other works full of puns: Robert Asprin's books Another Fine Myth Myth Conceptions Myth Directions Randall Garrett's collection Take Off John R Blaker (...!fortune!wdl1!jrb)
pollack (01/07/83)
#R:sri-arpa:-22400:uicsl:10700002:000:1329
uicsl!pollack Jan 6 15:21:00 1983
I can vividly recall one of Asimov's pun stories, called "Death of a Foy"
which appeared in F&SF several years ago. I will reconstruct it from memory:
A Foy was dying on Earth. This was very unusual because few Foys ever
came to Earth since their planet (named Sortibakenstrete) was several
light-years away, and because they had extraordinary cardiovascular systems
(including 5 large hearts) which usually lasted a very long time. Anyhow,
this Foy was dying and it wanted to return to Sortibakenstrete for its last
rites. But the Foy's terran Cardio-pulmonologist, Maude Feldman, unable to
save it, didn't want the Foy to depart; she wanted to make a big contribution
to science by examining the Foy's heart system. So she had her assistant,
Ray Smith, continually cajoling and pestering the Foy to try and make
it stay. One day, during his cajoling and pestering session, Ray told the Foy
that if the New York Philharmonic Choir, led these days by Harold Peterson,
sung a dirge at the Foy's funeral, then its soul would waft through space
back to its native planet.
Anyhow, soon it was d-day for the Foy, and on its death-bed it called
its pesterer over and said:
"Give my big hearts to Maude, Ray. Dismember me for Harold's choir. Tell
all the Foys on Sortibakenstrete that I will soon be there..."
jon (01/14/83)
#R:sri-arpa:-22400:hp-pcd:8200009:000:264
hp-pcd!jon Jan 13 12:57:00 1983
I forget where I read about the ill-faited starship "America".
It seems the America went too close to a black hole or some such
and got ripped to bits. The biggest part they found was one
star mangled spanner.
Jon Brewsterberry (01/17/83)
#R:sri-arpa:-22400:zinfandel:10800006:000:851 zinfandel!berry Jan 17 11:29:00 1983 The 'star mangled spanner' is from a story by Arthur C Clarke called 'Neutron Tide'. I believe it was first published in Galaxy magazine around 1970. The supercruiser 'Flatbush', led by Captain Karl van Rinderpest (hero of the final assault on the unspeakable, but not unshriekable, !!Yeetch), was returning from launcing a salvo of probability inverters against the Mucoid home planet with the destroyers 'Lieutenant Kizhe', 'Chutzpah' and 'Insufferable' when they ran straight into the gravity well of a neutron star. They later calculated that the unfortunate 'Flatbush' passed within a dozen mile of the "unthinkable concentration of mass." The tool was the only identifiable fragment found. More complete reportage will involve me in a copyright suit. Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (decvax!sytek!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900