Shep was going to split to Third World as he has planned his whole life so to do when his wife tells him she has cancer and needs the insurance, as crappy as it is, from his work. So he stays. So much for that! Very slow for me to read, but very well written with lots of clever observations. I really enjoyed this book very much, and would recommend it to everyone who knows someone who is chronic ill or dying.
Words I Had To Look Up:
fundoplication surgery (pg. 24) -- A surgical procedure in which the upper portion of the stomach is wrapped around the lower end of the esophagus and sutured in place as a treatment for the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus illiberality (pg. 127) -- Bigoted. prize his little girl's fingers(pg. 130) -- To move or force with or as if with a lever; pry. concomitant (pg. 131) -- One that occurs or exists concurrently with another. imprimatur (pg. 161) -- An official permission to do something. tare (pg. 169) -- An adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods. fugged (pg. 203) -- To make stuffy and odorous Branola (pg. 292) -- Either Post Bran'ola cereal or Orowheat Branola bread. elegiac apathy (pg. 350) -- Expressing sorrow often for something past. preternatural composure (pg. 368) -- Surpassing the normal or usual. sedulous (pg. 425) -- Marked by care and persistent effort.
Quote:
The fact that homelier and homier shared so many letters didn't seem a coincidence. (pg. 33)
Antsy's friend is dying of some weird disease. Antsy has a crush on the guy's sister, too. Lexie is dating some guy who clicks. And Antsy's ad is working too hard at the restaurant. Things snowball.
Two kids die in a car accident and end up in a sort of in-between world of dead kids and ghost buildings. Nicely done. Especially liked the Hindenburg/Roswell throw-away line.
Antsy goes on a birthday cruise, with his family, paid for by, and for, Mr. Crawley. Very good, I enjoyed it very much, and there were even a few tears here and there.
Read the 2nd edition. Should be very helpful when I get around to grounding something, and reinforces what I know about bonding, except for using flat braid, which I thought was pretty good stuff, but he says not so much.
An alternate history of Rome, one where it survived into the space age. With a picture of a spaceship on the jacket, I thought there would be more space-stuff. There was not. Still good, though!
Seven stories of androids by authors E.C. Tubb, Clifford D. Simak, Isaac Asimov, J.T. McIntosh, Philip K. Dick, Avram Davidson, and Alfred Bester. Read in the bathtub, over a period of a week...
Quote:
"Robopsychologist, please."
"Oh, are robots so differnt from men, mentally?"
"Worlds different." She allowed herself a frosty smile. "Robots are essentially decent."
Seven stories of alternate worlds. Sideways In Time, by Murry Leinster, reminded me of 1632, the novel by Eric Flint. It's too long to quote here, but Sail On Sail On, by Philip Jose Farmer, had a cute little explanation of C.W. radio using an analagy of a column a little angels.
Quote:
That was one sweet collection of sinusoids. -- Delenda Est, by Robert Silverberg, pg. 221.
A CIA (domestic spying?) agent runs across a Civil War veteran that is more than a hundred years old, but appears to be in his thirties. A classic science fiction novel.
EDIT: Read again, totally did not realize, during the read, that I had already read it twelve years ago!!
Twenty-five stories, some pretty good, some not so great, in my opinion. One of my favorites was Hillary Orbits Venus, by Pamela Sargent. There are also stories by Arthur C Clarke, Phillip K. Dick, C.M. Kornbluth, Forrest J. Ackerman/Ray Bradbury, Samuel Delaney, and other authors I am not familiar with.
"Enjoyed" may not be the right word, but I'm GLAD I read it. It gave a picture of society that I am not so familiar with. I'll be processing this story for a long time.