All About Emily

by Connie Willis

Theater legend Claire Havilland fears she might be entering the Sunset Boulevard phase of her career. That is, until her manager arranges a media appearance with her biggest fan--a famous artificial intelligence pioneer's teenage niece. After precocious Emily's backstage visit, Claire decides she's in a different classic film altogether. While unnaturally charming Emily swears she harbors no desire for the spotlight, Claire wonders if she hasn't met her very own Eve Harrington from All About Eve. But the story becomes more complex as dreams of fame give way to concerns about choice, free will, and identity.With this long, 17,000 word novelette, acclaimed author Connie Willis combines the glamour of old Hollywood and the eternal allure of Broadway to explore the cutting edge robotics of a richly-imagined near future. All About Emily is sure to join 'The Last of the Winnebagos,' 'Inside Job' and 'All Seated on the Ground' as one of multiple-award-winner Willis' seminal works.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Science Fiction Fantasy, Short Stories, Fantasy, Artificial Intelligence

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2011

About the author

Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.

She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).

She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.

Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.

Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire Havilland is an aging theater actress making a quick costume change for her latest Broadway production, Only Human, when her agent stops by her dressing room. She knows he's working an angle but can't quite decipher his intent when he pitches a couple of interviews. Her artfully referenced objections--using quotes from prior Broadway roles--fall on deaf ears. Within days she's greeting a famous scientist and his niece, Emily, backstage, streamed live by multiple tv stations as part of the show's promotions. Initially, Claire is delighted by Emily's effusive praise and comprehensive knowledge of her work, but soon notices uncomfortable parallels to the movie All About Eve. She's torn, however--Emily is able to immediately recognize all of her movie and theater references, and Claire does enjoy an appreciative audience. It turns out the meeting is a set-up, but Claire, canny in career preservation, is able to turn the interview to her advantage when she realizes the gushing niece is actually an artificial intelligence designed as an ambassador to the human community.


Connie Willis frequently contributes an annual Christmas story for Asimov's Magazine, and the first chapter of this novella was showcased last year at Asimov's Sci-Fi Digital site. The novella shines at atmosphere, character and setting. It captures the feel of New York winter holidays, with Macy's parade, the Rockettes, ice skating at Rockefeller, and that awful sleet that makes being outside miserable. Claire and Emily are dimensional, if single-minded, even as the agent is a stereotypical shyster. There's an interesting parallel between Claire and Emily in their self-absorption and intense career focus. Fans of older movies and Broadway plays will no doubt appreciate the many references and in-jokes, including Cats as the "worst musical ever produced on Broadway," and the Nathan Lane Theater. A novice in the world of film, I found myself looking many of the references up, only to by stymied by Willis' inventiveness, such as a remake of Desk Set (original 1957) with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.



It wasn't without awkward moments, however. The transition to the big conflict and resolution were abrupt. While the denouement is ethically satisfying, it lacks adequate emotional resolution. And pardon my snark, but how is it that that the same author that allowed Blackout to go on for two incredibly lengthy books proffered this limited reflection on the nature of free choice? It was almost as if Willis was more concerned with clever social commentary (enough with Beiber Jr. and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt performing in The Forbidden Planet already) and not enough about the philosophical commentary of free will and life. If Bellwether was To Say Nothing of the Dog Lite, than this is the EZ-Reader version of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Which I have not read, mind you. But in the great zeitgeist I would think so. Besides, I'm sure Kemper would say so. Actually, he'd say worse. He'd be the NYT critic that would pan the show and be responsible for it closing within weeks.

Overall, it was a shallower version of the heart and humor I associate with my favorite Willis books. Thematically, I find myself wondering if the piece is a disguised autobiography--an aging artist attempting to connect with a world that has moved on, lacking audience for her references. This little novella isn't about the robots and humanity as much as it is about aging, passion and compassion.


Overall, not quite what I expected, which just goes to show about judging a book by the publisher description. I was anticipating a psychological horror twist given the All About Eve connection, and instead found a sweet and somewhat melancholic musing-on-life novella.

Three and a half stars, no doubt colored by holidays in New York.


Cross-posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...

[Jersy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A robot / AI story set on Broadway with lots of references to theatre and movie history, of course I'm gonna love it. It also helps that the protagonist is great fun and very well written.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Claire Havilland is an aging Broadway actress who considers herself too old to wear a leotard and fishnets, but is not quite ready to be called a “legend.” One of her most successful roles was playing Margo Channing in the Broadway musical adaption of the film All About Eve. When Claire meets a charming young woman named Emily, who seems to know all about Claire’s career, Claire feels threatened. Could Emily be planning to steal Claire’s career, as Eve Harrington did to Margo Channing in All About Eve?

Connie Willis’s new novelette All About Emily (only 96 pages) blends Broadway and science fiction — something I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before — and it works. It was fun to explore Manhattan’s Theater District and to learn about the history of the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall while thinking about robotics, identity, ambition, and what it means to be human.

The plot of All About Emily moves quickly, never lags, and kept me thoroughly entertained for the couple of hours that it took me to read the book. Willis’s characters, who manage to become surprisingly well-developed in such a small space, are delightful — I was completely engrossed in their story.

All About Emily is the first of Connie Willis’s novelettes that I’ve read, though I own several more of them. I hope to get to them soon, and I’m going to rent All About Eve this weekend.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

...Willis has produced a large number of award winning short fiction in her career and that she knows how to write a good story at this length shows in All About Emily. It is well paced, pretty lean and yet manages to create a well developed character. I did think the ending of the story is rather abrupt. Not that when we reach that point there is much more to say but it is not the most graceful way to end a story. That being said, All About Emily is a very decent read. I don't think Willis quite reaches the level of some of the stories in The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories but it is well worth the time it takes to read.

Full Random Comments review

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connie Willis has written four of my favorite books--Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Blackout, and All Clear. She is a brilliant author, one of the most honored science fiction writers around. However, this novella, All About Emily, was just okay. I liked it, but it was just a nice short story, nothing more. Maybe my love for her writing falls in her time travel books, since all four of the previous reads and loves are that. There were certainly interesting aspects to All About Emily, Emily being a robot or AI (Artificial Intelligence). The story is told in parallel form to the play/movie, All About Eve. Claire Havilland, a famous Broadway actress who has even starred in a version of All About Eve, is the Margo in this futuristic story, and she fears that Emily will prove to be an Eve. Well, things don't always turn out the way we fear, and the parallel lines take an unexpected path. There's some interesting material about the Rockettes, their history and comeback from the brink of extinction and some pointed questions raised about the role of AIs in the human world. Not sorry at all that I read it, but I still prefer the witty and historically rich tales of the time traveling historians.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty fair introduction to Connie Willis. It was a tad too short for me, I read it in about 45 minutes & found it kind of hard to get very invested in the characters. It was a fine twist though, to have Claire soaking wet in the snow in the beginning & be made to think, through the many wonderful references to All About Eve (a movie that I have to watch at least once a month) that she's in such a position because she's been thrown over for Emily. Even though this didn't set me on fire, I'll certainly read more by Willis.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

1 Dec, 2012
Brilliant fun, based on the old movie All About Eve (of course) but with references to many more classic movies and plays and the history of the Rockettes as well. A fun, quick, read.

Recommended to fans of old movies, particularly the quick-talking comedies.

***

Really funny, no weeping at all

Personal copy

[Hallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit disappointing - I expected it be on the far-light of the Connie Willis spectrum, but it didn't quite work for me as either light fluffy fun or real satire. It had its moments, and I think the concept was good, but it's still very slight.

[Julie Bestry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Connie Willis' brand of speculative fiction, but have found I usually prefer her time travel tales to her other stories. However, this little novella, which I polished off during a lazy lunch hour, is charming. Willis could have expanded it and filled it with fluff to make it a full-length book, but that would have been a waste of her time and ours. Instead, this tale, lean but as charmingly curvy as each Rockette to which Claire's protege, Emily, aspires to be, gathers the history of the Rockettes, Broadway, classic film and especially "All About Eve" into a cheery medley.

There's a twinge of philosophizing, but there's little deep thinking in "All About Emily" -- just let it wash over you. As a Christmassy story, it works better than Willis' "All Seated On the Ground" and for film and theater lovers, it has all of the charm of a feel-good classic. Just be clear, at 96 large-type pages, this is barely more than a short story. So, if you're a starving actress-wannabe, get it from your local library instead of shelling out your lunch money for a tiny hardback copy.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Connie Willis. However, I continue to be slightly befuddled by her passionate love of musical theater/old movies/retro celebrity... that sort of thing. It's just not my thing.

It is certainly the thing of the main character in this book, though - an aging actress, who, much against her expectations, finds an emotional bond with a lifelike robot whose one dream in 'life' is to become a Rockette.

Although extremely short, the book is witty, touches thoughtfully on quite a few ethical questions, and is very touching. I cried. On the subway.

Side note: Yay for the public library! Because $20.00 (the price of this book) is really just too much for one story - even if it is a very good story by a very good author.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've not been real impressed by any of the last few Connie Willis books that I've read. Perhaps I should have been reading her shorter work. This novella is fantastic. And yet why would anyone (even the library) pay $45 for a novella - even with really nice black-and-white artwork? Don't think I agree with the premise of this story and I certainly didn't get the movie or play references. But somewhere in hear was something that described what it meant to be human and it was worth reading and thinking about.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful and lovely read that will perk up your spirits and your afternoon, All About Emily is so good my only complaint is I wish it had been longer. Connie Willis has a deep knowledge and love of old movies and a sense of humor that tickles your sides and your heart. Everything she writes is just terrific and another must-read of hers is _To Say Nothing of The Dog_

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novelette was really funny with an interesting message. Willis is a provocative writer and her characters are charming and complex. A very quick read.

[Adam Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thrilled to find something by Connie Willis I hadn't read - in the library no less! This novelette from 2011 is clearly part of her ongoing collection of Christmas stories, although as with many of them, the Christmas angle is entirely tangential. Like much of her best short fiction, this is in turns hilarious, thought provoking, and chock-full of references to things I absolutely adore.

The title is taken from one of my favourite films of all time, All About Eve, and that film's story underpins the insecurities of our viewpoint character, Broadway (don't say legend) star Claire Havilland. This may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found it breezy and hilarious. Not only is Claire a typical Willis heroine, able to spout hilarious dialogue, and an even funnier inner monologue, but the New York theatre location gives Willis free reign to cook up references to unnecessary, but hatefully plausible, stage musical versions of beloved films, starring third-generation celebrities.

The plot is slight, after all it is only a 70k word piece, but it involves the advancement of artificial intelligence and robotics, as well as one of my favourite Connie Willis tropes, historical facts in science fiction drag. She is an avid researcher, and I adore the building blocks of her stories, the rich history of whatever topic she has chosen to tackle, and build a story around. Here, it is The Rockettes, the dancing troupe based at Radio City Music Hall, an institution with a fascinating history, which we learn while being charmed by the delightful Claire Havilland and the mysterious Emily.

I'm sure this will turn up in some short story collection somewhere, but the edition I found was an illustrated hardback, which I knocked over in a couple of hours. This is pure screwball Willis, in the vein of Spice Pogrom or Even the Queen, and I adored it, as I have done everything she's ever written. Now I want to go back and read some of her stories again... (I've already read Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog and Impossible Things twice, dare I jump back in to Blackout / All Clear again?)

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this subject matter is outside her famous time travel books, this is classic Willis. People who love what they do (in this case, Broadway and classic film) constantly relating their real life experiences to their obsessions. I love that about her books, because I love people who are passionate about what they do.

In the tradition of science fiction writers going back to Asimov, Willis addresses the question of robots and humanity. If you build a robot that seems so human that most humans can't tell the difference on close inspection, is it really a robot? Is it a sentient being with the right not to be reprogrammed when its "preferences" are inconvenient? What makes us human, anyway, and why would we treat such a creature as anything but a toaster (shoutout BSG fans!)?

This probably would have gotten four stars from me but for the ending. I am not a crier, but I almost embarassed myself at a bus stop in broad daylight when I finished this book. I love you Connie Willis, please be my friend.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another work of pure reading pleasure by the incredible Connie Willis. She has this ability to create an utterly believable near future, mixing current events and people from our present (in this case Lindsay Lohan!) with probable technological advances (time travel, AI). Sometimes she includes natural disasters or challenges (such as the Pandemic of Doomsday Book and although that wasn't mentioned in this book, it would have come as no surprise if Mr. Dunworthy and Co. had dropped in to see a Broadway show. All About Emily is short and sweet; if you love Connie Willis the only thing that will disappoint you is that brevity.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've liked some Willis works and detested others. This one is sort of off the scale, because it's a mostly-lightweight Christmas story. Call it a novella if you like, I'll stick with "long short story."

Willis appears to be a theatre/movie buff, or perhaps she just decided to research the heck out of it and do an info dump, but in the end all the details turn out to be relevant to the plot.

And in the end we see that this fluffy piece does have a bit of punch to it, as it raises the question, if an AI displays emotions, should we respect them as if they were human emotions?

[Jamie Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This is a new addition to Connie Willis's growing collection of Christmas stories, first published in the December 2011 edition of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. They call it a novella, but it's barely long enough to qualify, so expect a short story.

I love Willis, and this story is readable enough, but there's just not much to it. It has an old-fashioned theme - a robot with human desires, who is simultaneously a threat and an inspiration. Perhaps if I were a theater buff I'd have enjoyed it more. If you're a Willis fan and a theater buff, then this will hit the spot.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are never enough Connie Willis stories and my cheers for this one are extra loud because here Willis' love of screwball comedy and 20th century Americana meets I Robot. Asimov thought deeply about so many potential trouble spots in human/robot co-existence but he didn't think about the trouble that could be caused by a stage-struck girl's love of the Rockettes. Connie Willis did though & I'm so glad.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really need to meet Connie Willis someday as she seems to be incorporating all the things I love into her books. This time it's a story that weaves old movies, especially All About Eve (one of the greatest movies of all time!) into a short novella about an artificial creature who loves the theater. Loved it!!!

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novella about an aging actress who meets an android prototype. She fears that Emily the android will replace her, given that the android is beautiful, tireless, and gives flawless performances. But instead of sabotaging the young droid, she gives her the best advice she can, for reasons the reader doesn't fully understand until the end. I liked the ending; it surprised me.

[drowningmermaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fast read...

It does seem that Connie Willis focuses on dialog and reflection, rather than the actual do-ing of stuff, but this one was a wonderful, super-fast read.

After reading the Doomsday Tome, or There and Back Again, I just knew Willis could write a better story than that... and this one did not disappoint. Wonderful exploration of art and stage and what it means to be human.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really want to give this 3.5 stars. Not quite 4 IMO, but in the ballpark. Although this is fairly well-trodden territory, Willis makes the point about how it is, or will be, important not to treat artificial sentients inhumanely perhaps better than anyone else has before.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willis has my number, my MO, my tastes....

I adored this book. Again. Rockettes? Old movies? (OH HAI THERE DESK SET), musicals.... ROBOTS?

This novel is short, sweet, and highlights what it means to be human.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hollywood...Broadway...Glamour...Christmas...Ambition...Artificial intelligence. What a wonderful palette of colors for Connie Willis to use for a novella. Add a soupcon of what does it really mean to be human, and here's a winner.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not great, novella by Willis with engaging characters and a fun take on A.I. potentials (but mired a bit in nostalgic trivia...which maybe isn't a bad thing given its hooks with the plot).

If you're a theater or movie fan, you'll like this one.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broadway star encounters stage struck robot, and doesn't respond the way you think she should/could/would. Compared to the author's usual doorstoppers at only 96 pages this is more like a haiku, and just like a good Show it'll take you on an emotional rollercoaster but send you away smiling.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice quick novella to read, told in first person about AI and Broadway and the Rockettes, and essentially being human--aren't they all? Charming illustrations.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and cute.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a world 14 years on from the publication of this short story where "artificials" taking human jobs is becoming a reality, this story hits a lot different. The "happy ending" of the Rockettes campaigning for Emily to become one of them appears less as a heartwarming moral about the humanity inherent in human responses and more of a publicity stunt.

As well, Emily's innocence and heartfelt emotional tales look hollow and like a computer attempting to program the best combination of variables to coerce people into getting her what she wants. And I do understand the thesis of the story: that desire is at the heart of a human and therefore a truly artificial being cannot feel "want" or need something. However, in the cynical world of 2025 where AI is pushed onto every new product and into every consumer's life, I can't read this story with the same eyes as I would have read it even five years earlier.