Philip Athans > Recent Status Updates

I did not see the end (really the punchline) of "Disposal Service" coming. A super short sci-fi joke, really, and it works.

Rachel Unger made effective and evocative use of the tricky second person in “Dead Man’s Curve.”

My favorite poem from The Journals of Susanna Moodie was "Further Arrivals."

“Early Model” is as intriguing a read as it is silly. Here we see how thoughtlessly designed technology can interfere with personal and political relationships. Wow, has this “come true” in sad and tragic ways since its original 1956 publication.

"We are all bodies in the world, and our stories are the stories of bodies. To write meaningfully, we must grasp that."

"The Body" was a fun, short, high concept goof that Sheckley pulled off with great humanness and good natured humor.

“Trap” is a fun-with-transporter story good for a few laughs.

The second story, "All the Things You Are" is a fun little first contact comedy of errors with a terrific opening line:

There are regulations to govern the conduct of First Contact spaceships, rules drawn up in desperation and followed in despair, for what rule can predict the effect of any action upon the mentality of an alien people?

If for no other reason (at least so far), read this book for Chapter 3, Your Mother's Passions, Your Sister's Woes: Writing About the Living.

"The Slideshow" is now one of my favorite poems of all time.

The titular story, "Pilgrimage to Earth" is a darkly comedic riff on a post-love commercial dystopia I'm not sure how I feel about yet.

Wraps up the amazing Mister Justice.

Wow.