Pearls From Peoria

by Philip José Farmer, Keith Howell (Illustrator), Michael Croteau (Afterword)

An outstanding and unique collection from an outstanding and unique talent. Philip José Farmer, three time Hugo winner and Nebula Grand Master in 2001, has written exciting and provocative fiction since his debut, the ground breaking “The Lovers,” stunned the SF community in 1952.

Pearls from Peoria assembles over sixty previously uncollected pieces of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and autobiography that demonstrate the extraordinary range and vitality of Philip José Farmer’s imagination.

Many of the pieces appear here for the first time anywhere, while others have previously appeared only in small run magazines that have remained elusive and avidly sought after by Farmer aficionados.

These tales and articles provide the reader with a grand tour of the literary pocket universes that make up Philip José Farmer’s private cosmos. The range is vast, from horror to pulp heroes, and autobiography with pieces on Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Doc Savage and Sir Richard Burton, Riverworld and Oz, Sherlock Holmes and Ralph von Wau Wau.

Pearls from Peoria represents outstanding value for people who want access to this incredibly rare work without spending a fortune, and copious amounts of time and energy, tracking down the individual original publications.

Pearls from Peoria is available in three unique editions:

Trade: Deluxe cloth bound hardcover edition
Limited: 100 numbered copies, bound in leather, signed by author
Lettered: 26 copies, bound in leather, signed by author, housed in a custom traycase

Table of Contents

Myths and Paramyths

• Nobody’s Perfect
• Wolf, Iron, and Moth
• Evil, Be My Good
• Mother Earth Wants You
• Opening the Door
• The Wounded
• Heel

Ralph von Wau Wau

• A Scarletin Study
• The Doge Whose Barque Was Worse Than His Bight
• Jonathan Swift Somers III: Cosmic Traveller in a Wheelchair

Lost Futures

• Seventy Years of Decpop
• Fundamental Issue
• Some Fabulous Yonder
• Planet Pickers
• The Terminalization of J.G. Ballard

Psychological Tales

• The Blind Rowers
• Hunter’s Moon
• The Rise Gotten
• The Good of the Land
• O’Brien and Obrenov

Doc Savage

• Writing Doc’s Biography
• Savage Shadow
• Doc Savage and the Cult of the Blue God
• The Monster On Hold

Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs

• The Princess of Terra
• The Golden Age and the Brass
• An Appreciation of Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Arms of Tarzan
• The Two Lord Ruftons
• A Reply to "The Red Herring"
• The Great Lorak Time Discrepancy
• The Lord Mountford Mystery
• From ERB to YGG
• A Language for Opar
• The Purple Distance

PJF on SF

• The Source of the River
• A Rough Knight for the Queen
• The Journey as the Revelation of the Unknown
• The Josés from Rio
• Getting A-Long with Heinlein
• God’s Hat
• To Forry Ackerman, the Wizard of Sci-Fi
• Pornograms and Supercomputers
• A Review of the 1977 Anthology Chrysalis
• Review of The Prometheus Project
• Review of How the Wizard Came to Oz
• Oft Have I Travelled
• White Whales, Raintrees, Flying Saucers...
• IF R.I.P.
• The Tin Woodman Slams the Door
• Witches and Gnomes and Talking Animals, oh my
• Suffer A Witch to Live

Poems

• Imagination
• The Pterodactyl
• Sestina of the Space Rocket
• Beauty in This Iron Age
• In Common
• Black Squirrel on Cottonwood Limb’s tip
• Job’s Leviathan

PJF on PJF

• Maps and Spasms
• Religion and Myths
• Creating Artificial Worlds
• Phonemics
• Lovers and Otherwise
• A Fimbulwinter Introduction
• On A Mountain Upside Down

On PJF

• Mother of Pearl
• The Artwork
• Photo Montages

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Collections, Fiction

769 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone who has never had the pleasure of reading the works of Philip Jose Farmer might find this super-heavy tome somewhat difficult to deal with. On one hand it has absolutely stunning fresh takes on themes that have become almost cliche in the genre literature (vampires, werewolves, intelligent animals), on the other hand you would be facing a deluge of scrapbook kind of entries which have been rendered into literature by sheer writing skill and boldness of thought. Recommended if you are a PJF fan, and even not, as long as you are ready to be flown/blown away by the audacity of ideas presented through this myriad literary forms, all showcased here.

[Mario Zecca]

I did a short blurb, and I think a few spot illustrations, in this well deserved tribute to Philip Jose Farmer's inventive imagination. If your looking for fast-paced far out fantastic fiction, Philip is your man.

[Bill Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farmer one of the Best

Great stories especially at the end and his notes on Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage. His stories on the alternative lives are fun .

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Jose' Farmer - not your average author. I'm sure that not all of his writings will sit well with every reader, but whether you appreciate him for his earlier books, or the massive "riverworld" series, or for simple, yet incisive thoughts and humor, he is a great writer. Peoria is generous to share her talents with the rest of us.