false<![CDATA[Bug Jack Barron]]>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176519769m/633178.jpg63317815 Norman Spinrad made his biggest SF splash with <I>Bug Jack Barron</I>, whose '67/8 <I>New Worlds</I> serialisation brought controversy which Michael Moorcock discusses in an afterword. It's a quintessential 1960s novel, prophetically highlighting the irresponsible power of mass media & corporations.
TV megastar Jack Barron hosts the wildly popular <I>Bug Jack Barron</I>, a phone-in show that listens to public gripes & puts politicians & bosses on the spot--live. Naturally Barron pulls his punches for safety's sake--until he tangles with paranoid billionaire Benedict Howards, peddler of cryonic immortality, & walks into a minefield of deadly cover-ups. Violence erupts. Howards believes he can buy anyone, even Barron's estranged wife, even Barron. Barron doesn't mind selling out if the coin is immortality. On tv, the power remains all his: "As they rolled the final commercial Barron felt a weird manic exhilaration, knowing that he'd set up a focus of forces that could squash the five-hundred-billion-dollar Foundation for Human Immortality like a bug if Bennie proved dumb enough to not holler 'Uncle'." The Foundation's medical secret--poor science but still packing a vicious gut-punch--is more appalling than Barron's nastiest guesses; by the time he learns the truth he's ensnared in complicity. Worse things follow. At the climax, with nothing left to lose, our man goes for broke in a desperate effort to crack Howards open in Barron's own TV arena, in front of 100,000,000 viewers.
Slightly dated, occasionally crude, but still hyper-intense, memorable stuff.--David Langford (edited)2512433book1968Bug Jack Barrontotal:93|5:22|4:41|3:25|2:4|1:1|93358154940falsefalseThu Jan 02 00:00:00 -0800 2003Thu Jul 03 05:02:18 -0700 2008Fri Apr 24 05:23:25 -0700 2009
C’est un roman magnifique, une oeu...more...]]>
20falsefalseTue Dec 18 12:09:59 -0800 2007Tue Dec 18 12:16:57 -0800 2007 However, less forgivably, it's an atrociously sexist book; the ma...more...]]>
40falsefalseSun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989Wed Sep 16 23:52:06 -0700 2009Wed Sep 16 23:54:31 -0700 2009140falsefalseTue Jul 08 10:43:10 -0700 2008Tue Jul 08 10:49:19 -0700 2008
more...]]>
50falsefalseMon Mar 31 14:11:28 -0700 2008Mon Apr 21 11:17:40 -0700 2008 What I didn't like was that the voice/s...more...]]>
30falsefalseWed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1986Tue Apr 08 09:50:29 -0700 2008Tue Apr 08 09:53:40 -0700 2008
more...]]>
40falsefalseWed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 1998Wed Jan 30 20:22:41 -0800 2008Wed Jan 30 20:22:41 -0800 2008
What a crazy-ass 70s idea, man. Like, it's totally far out. I think this book couldn't have been written during any other era--and if it had been, it couldn't have received much earnest praise.]]>
00falsefalseTue Apr 08 09:55:32 -0700 2008Tue Apr 08 09:55:36 -0700 200830falsefalseWed Jul 09 10:45:18 -0700 2008Wed Jul 09 10:45:32 -0700 200800falsefalseThu Nov 19 19:51:04 -0800 2009Thu Nov 19 19:51:04 -0800 200950falsefalseTue Nov 03 06:50:45 -0800 2009Tue Nov 03 06:50:45 -0800 200940falsefalseTue Oct 27 05:36:05 -0700 2009Tue Oct 27 05:36:05 -0700 200950falsefalseSat Oct 24 20:01:45 -0700 2009Sat Oct 24 20:01:45 -0700 200900falsefalseSun Oct 18 12:07:01 -0700 2009Sun Oct 18 12:07:01 -0700 200900falsefalseSat Oct 10 06:13:25 -0700 2009Sat Oct 10 06:13:25 -0700 200950falsefalseMon Sep 21 06:03:38 -0700 2009Mon Sep 21 06:03:38 -0700 200950falsefalseSat Sep 19 13:22:56 -0700 2009Sat Sep 19 13:22:56 -0700 200930falsefalseTue Aug 25 11:44:59 -0700 2009Tue Aug 25 11:44:59 -0700 200900falsefalseSun Aug 23 16:27:45 -0700 2009Sun Aug 23 16:27:45 -0700 200940falsefalseThu Aug 20 13:13:41 -0700 2009Thu Aug 20 13:13:41 -0700 2009
http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=633178