00 • Captain Empirical • (1979) 19 • The Fourth-Stage Polygraph • (1977) 52 • Get the Lead Out • (1976) 76 • A Rat of Any Psize • (1977) 97 • The Copra Population 138 • Actions Speak Louder • (1978) 191 • Griggs and the Einstein Fallacy • (1977) 216 • Now You See Her • (1977) 270 • More Deadly Than the Male? • (1978)
There is no way this book could get published today. I honestly think too many people would find it politically incorrect and/or offensive, It arguably pushed those boundaries for me (offensive), and when it did that I would hearken to one thought.
I may not agree with Shuster's opinions, but is there anything worth listening to when he rants? In some ways Shuster's rantings are like Don Rickles's comedy. No one is immune. Shuster has views on women in positions of leadership on sea going vessels, researchers getting bogged down in their ivory towers, and people working together for the common good being worth more than businesses or government's being so called leaders for society. Oh, I left out his views of Third World countries not wanting to solve their own problems.
Shuster is a troubleshooter for a shipping company, that also has some cruise ships, which gets into space mining and moon colonies. Shuster is believed dead, and much of the story is told via audio logs he kept of his various trouble shooting assignments. This format makes me think these were originally written as short stories, which Nicholson turned into a novel.
This book isn't for everyone. You might read it and be amused at some parts. I think many would be offended by what the writer was able to say in 1979 (the copyright date). For myself, I got my 25 cents worth.
I read it when first as a serial in Analog and then with the space mining parts wrapped around it as an anthologized novel. Nicholson writes as a working stiff an the opinions he expresses reflect that point of view and the sensibilities and mindset of the 1970s. I miss writing like that.