Naked Came the Farmer

by Philip José Farmer, Bill Knight, David Everson

"A human head crashes through a window. A naked woman zooms by on a motorcycle. A sleazy lawmaker gets an arrow in the back. "That's life in central Illinois--or at least the twisted version of central Illinois concocted by 13 writers collaborating on a tongue-in-cheek mystery." So writes Christopher Wills of the Associated Press in his recent article covering the new serial book, NAKED CAME THE FARMER. Building on the success of NAKED CAME THE STRANGER--a collaborative effort of 20 Newsday staffers back in 1969--and on the success of NAKED CAME THE MANATEE--a suspense thriller cooked up by 13 Miami-based writers in 1995--now comes NAKED CAME THE FARMER, a satirical, round-robin murder mystery drawing on the talents of some of Illinois' top writers.

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1941

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

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty awful. It’s amusing at times, especially if one lives in central Illinois, where it’s set, but it’s a lot of bad jokes and over the top silliness. Numerous people are killed, including one whose severed head is placed in a pumpkin and catapulted into the window of a private eye, Ms. Canine (not pronounced K-9 as we’re told over and over). There’s political corruption, mostly around a mega hog farm, cross dressing, and driving to Normal on a combine, but mostly notable because each chapter was written by an author/celebrity from the Persia area.

[Durval Menezes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was somewhat of a disappointment -- quite a hodgepod of stories by Farmer and other (mostly unknown) authors, none of them very good. It seemed rather amateurish.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this one was quite fun. The different authors involved were able to put together a good mystery involving the awful environmental effects of pig farming in Illinois. This one was full of eccentric characters and even though each chapter was written by a different author, it all came together in the end. After just reading "Naked Came the Manatee", I was kind of surprised that the plot of both books involved a decapitated head. Not sure if this idea was borrowed from "Manatee." Anyway, a fun book to read.

[Mailis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hodge-podge quilt work, mashing together different authors idea of a storyline and mystery unraveling...i appreciate the idea and i would love to know how they managed to achieve producing this book together, was it lots of brainstorming in a group, or were they given different tasks within the story...interesting...story in itself? not so much...mainly because the authors are so differently styled writers it doesn't add up to smooth story...