Venus on the Half-Shell and Others

infobox Book |
name = Venus on the Half-Shell and Others
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
author = Philip José Farmer
editor = Christopher Paul Carey
illustrator =
cover_artist = Bob Eggleton
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science Fiction anthology
publisher = Subterranean Press
release_date = 2008
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 325 pp
isbn = 978-1-59606-142-2
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Venus on the Half-Shell and Others" (ISBN 978-1-59606-128-6) is a collection mostly comprised of science fiction author Philip José Farmer's pseudonymous fictional-author literary works, edited by Christopher Paul Carey and published in 2008. Farmer describes a fictional-author story as "a tale supposedly written by an author who is a character in fiction." [Farmer 1979] Carey, who had access to Farmer's correspondence while editing the book, reveals in his introduction that in the early to mid-1970s Farmer planned to edit an anthology of fictional-author stories by other writers. Farmer solicited ficitonal-author stories from authors such as Arthur Jean Cox, Philip K. Dick, Leslie Fiedler, Ron Goulart, Howard Waldrop, and Gene Wolfe, urging them to submit their stories to venues such as "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction". Only Cox, Waldrop, and Wolfe completed their stories and had them published, although Philip K. Dick's never realized fictional-author story "A Man for No Countries" as by Hawthorne Abendsen is said to have led Dick to write his postumous novel "Radio Free Albemuth". [Carey 2008] [Williams 1986] In the end, Farmer's fictional-author anthology never materialized. [Carey 2008]

The Tom Wode Bellman Controversy

The Foreword by Tom Wode Bellman in "Venus on the Half-Shell and Others" states that Bellman was also solicited by Farmer to write a fictional-author story entitled "The Wee Weepers of Mu" as by Gabriel Weltstein, which was reputedly published in 1976 in a fanzine called "Kukuanafan", although there has been some debate as to whether the name Tom Wode Bellman is itself a fictional-author pseudonym. [Nuninga 2008] [Bellman 2008] The July 2008 issue of "" published a Guest of Honor speech which Farmer presented at the science fiction convention Balticon 11 that only adds to the Bellman mystery. In the speech, Farmer states that he planned to write a novel about the science fiction community featuring a protagonist named Tom Wode Bellman. However, an essay accompanying the speech, purportedly by Bellman, claims that Farmer merely used Bellman's name for the character as a joke. [Farmer 2008] [Bellman 2008]

Contents

*"Foreword" by Tom Wode Bellman
*"Introduction: More Real Than Life Itself: Philip José Farmer's Fictional-Author Period" by Christopher Paul Carey

*"Why and How I Became Kilgore Trout"
*"Venus on the Half-Shell" (a novel originally published under the byline Kilgore Trout)
*"The Obscure Life and Times of Kilgore Trout"
*"The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod"
*"The Problem of the Sore Bridge--Among Others" as by Harry Manders
*"The Volcano" (originally published under the byline Paul Chapin
*"Osiris on Crutches" as by Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor
*"The Phantom of the Sewers" (originally published as "It's the Queen of Darkness, Pal" by )
*"A Hole in Hell" as by Dane Helstrom
*"The Last Rise of Nick Adams" (originally published as "The Impotency of Bad Karma" under the byline Cordwainer Bird)
*"The Adventure of the Peerless Peer" as by John H. Watson
*"Philip José Farmer as Fictional Author: A Chronological Bibliography"
*"The Impotency of Bad Karma" (only available in the Lettered leatherbound edition)

Notes

References

* Farmer, Philip José. (1979) "Riverworld and Other Stories" New York: Berlkley. ISBN 0-425-04208-1
* Farmer, Philip José. (2008) "Wild Weird Clime: Balticon 11 Guest of Honor Speech" in "" no. 13, July 2008
*
* Bellman, Tom Wode. (2008) "To Be, or Not to Be" in "" no. 13, July 2008
* Carey, Christopher Paul. (2008) "Introduction: More Real Than Life Itself: Philip José Farmer's Fictional-Author Period" in "Up from the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories" by Philip José Farmer, Burton, MI: Subterranean Press. ISBN 978-1-59606-142-2
*
* Williams, Paul. (1986) "" Encinitas: Entwhistle Books. ISBN 0-425-04208-1

External links

* [http://tomwodebellman.blogspot.com The Unofficial Tom Wode Bellman Blog]
* [http://www.pjframer.com/farmerphile.htm Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip José Farmer]
* [http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_farmer_venushalfshell.html Green Man Review review of "Venus on the Half-Shell and Others"]
* [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6506195.html Publisher's Weekly starred review of "Venus on the Half-Shell and Others"]