Norman Spinrad is a genius.
Yeah, I know, I rave about writers all the time. I tend to get excited, but unless I used the G-Word in regard to Peter Straub, I do not believe that I have ever called an author that.
Yet I have had little success in recommending Spinrad to other readers. Perhaps it's the Science Fiction reputation Norman Spinrad has that dissuades horror fans. Even while they most probably race to the latest Star Wars movie.
Maybe it's another reputation associated with Spinrad. He's a controversial figure in the SF field. You'd have to look to someone like Harlan Ellison to see the kind of furor over an author (I am deliberately ignoring those Puppy assholes who have gotten too much attention over the past few years). In fact, Spinrad might even be more polarizing in the genre than Ellison.
Norman Spinrad has never been afraid to bite the fandom that feeds him. He has cast the Science Fiction community in the most unflattering light imaginable. This deeply offends some, but I always liked those who stir the pot. Who shake and rattle things up. As long as they do so with wit and intelligence, if they are usually dead on target, and that they can back it up with talent of their own. There lies Norman Spinrad.
His works have pushed the boundaries of Science Fiction. Novels like The Iron Dream, Bug Jack Barron, and A World Between are gateways into the potential of the genre. He has skirted the mainstream as well, with stunning novels like Passing Through the Flame and The Mind Game.
And then there is Little Heroes.
Little Heroes was written in the mid nineteen eighties, right at the dawn of the Cyberpunk revolution. It's kind of an anarchistic nineteen sixties perspective of a future that is uneasily close to our present day.
America's streets are in chaos. People are jacked into electronic devices that simulate the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. And music has turned to pure shit. Artificial rock stars are replacing the temperamental stars of the past. Pop songs are created by corporations, and are electronically produced by computer nerds. There's no soul left in rock and roll, and the industry is suffering.
Into this maelstrom of disorder are a series of disparate characters who seem to have little in common:
Glorianna O'Toole is the colorful Crazy Old Lady of Rock and Roll. She was there at the Summer of Love. She experienced the glories of Woodstock and the violence of Altamont. O'Toole was a performer who almost made it, but while she fell through the cracks of stardom, she is a survivor. Muzic, Inc. hires her to bring life and energy back into the music.
Paco Manaco is a tough street thug who sees himself as superstar Mucho Muchacho. While crude and violent, has more ingenuity and honor than his appearance and manner suggest. He becomes an unlikely player in a revolution of the people.
Bobby Rubin is a nerdy computer geek with a knack for creating the necessary visuals to promote a rising artificial rock star. His likeness is used as the anarchistic but nonexistent Red Jack, but can Bobby find the strength within himself to help change the world?
Sally Genero is a dumpy, acne-plagued Valley Girl with the skills of a wizard music programmer, but the heart of a sexy rock star. She reaches into her soul to bring about the music that unites the people. Will she be a star at last? Or is there only more hurt and humiliation in her future?
Karen Gold is a woman who has been betrayed by life. She did what she was supposed to do: schooling, job, a place to stay in the city. But when her job is rendered obsolete by automation, she is thrust into the streets. Only to be taken in by the Reality Liberation Front, a revolutionary group dedicated to the deconstruction of an unfair and dehumanizing system.
Isn't music the soundtrack to most political revolutions?
Little Heroes is so rich with character, with compassion, with intricate plot, with wit and philosophy. And while Spinrad suggests that all revolutions are ultimately compromised and reintegrated into the same old corrupt status quo, is it not enough for his characters to discover their own epiphanies? To make the world just a bit better by their bravery? Isn't it possible for every one of us to become little heroes?
Yeah, I know, I rave about writers all the time. I tend to get excited, but unless I used the G-Word in regard to Peter Straub, I do not believe that I have ever called an author that.
Yet I have had little success in recommending Spinrad to other readers. Perhaps it's the Science Fiction reputation Norman Spinrad has that dissuades horror fans. Even while they most probably race to the latest Star Wars movie.
Maybe it's another reputation associated with Spinrad. He's a controversial figure in the SF field. You'd have to look to someone like Harlan Ellison to see the kind of furor over an author (I am deliberately ignoring those Puppy assholes who have gotten too much attention over the past few years). In fact, Spinrad might even be more polarizing in the genre than Ellison.
Norman Spinrad has never been afraid to bite the fandom that feeds him. He has cast the Science Fiction community in the most unflattering light imaginable. This deeply offends some, but I always liked those who stir the pot. Who shake and rattle things up. As long as they do so with wit and intelligence, if they are usually dead on target, and that they can back it up with talent of their own. There lies Norman Spinrad.
His works have pushed the boundaries of Science Fiction. Novels like The Iron Dream, Bug Jack Barron, and A World Between are gateways into the potential of the genre. He has skirted the mainstream as well, with stunning novels like Passing Through the Flame and The Mind Game.
And then there is Little Heroes.
Little Heroes was written in the mid nineteen eighties, right at the dawn of the Cyberpunk revolution. It's kind of an anarchistic nineteen sixties perspective of a future that is uneasily close to our present day.
America's streets are in chaos. People are jacked into electronic devices that simulate the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. And music has turned to pure shit. Artificial rock stars are replacing the temperamental stars of the past. Pop songs are created by corporations, and are electronically produced by computer nerds. There's no soul left in rock and roll, and the industry is suffering.
Into this maelstrom of disorder are a series of disparate characters who seem to have little in common:
Glorianna O'Toole is the colorful Crazy Old Lady of Rock and Roll. She was there at the Summer of Love. She experienced the glories of Woodstock and the violence of Altamont. O'Toole was a performer who almost made it, but while she fell through the cracks of stardom, she is a survivor. Muzic, Inc. hires her to bring life and energy back into the music.
Paco Manaco is a tough street thug who sees himself as superstar Mucho Muchacho. While crude and violent, has more ingenuity and honor than his appearance and manner suggest. He becomes an unlikely player in a revolution of the people.
Bobby Rubin is a nerdy computer geek with a knack for creating the necessary visuals to promote a rising artificial rock star. His likeness is used as the anarchistic but nonexistent Red Jack, but can Bobby find the strength within himself to help change the world?
Sally Genero is a dumpy, acne-plagued Valley Girl with the skills of a wizard music programmer, but the heart of a sexy rock star. She reaches into her soul to bring about the music that unites the people. Will she be a star at last? Or is there only more hurt and humiliation in her future?
Karen Gold is a woman who has been betrayed by life. She did what she was supposed to do: schooling, job, a place to stay in the city. But when her job is rendered obsolete by automation, she is thrust into the streets. Only to be taken in by the Reality Liberation Front, a revolutionary group dedicated to the deconstruction of an unfair and dehumanizing system.
Isn't music the soundtrack to most political revolutions?
Little Heroes is so rich with character, with compassion, with intricate plot, with wit and philosophy. And while Spinrad suggests that all revolutions are ultimately compromised and reintegrated into the same old corrupt status quo, is it not enough for his characters to discover their own epiphanies? To make the world just a bit better by their bravery? Isn't it possible for every one of us to become little heroes?
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