Unlike the first volume of Classic Philip Jose Farmer, this second collection is dominated by short stories, containing only one novella called “Riders of the Purple Wage”. I was interested in reading this particular piece as it had been originally printed in Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions anthology. It’s a bizarre tale, typical of Farmer’s vivid and beautiful imagination.
A few centuries from now, the Earth’s population has expanded upward, living on numerous levels above the planet’s surface. Many citizens subsist on government handouts known as the purple wage. Artist Chib Winnegan has discovered a new medium combining painting and sculpture, much to the delight, and consternation, of two government certified art critics.
Guided and encouraged by the wisdom of his grandfather, an ornery old coot long thought dead by the government he ripped off for billions but who is hiding in Chib’s house, Chib is soon to unveil his latest masterpiece to a world dominated by catchphrases and sound bytes, to a society that has lost its humanity because humanity has lost its heart.
It was a fascinating and entertaining read that had me smiling and even laughing out loud at times.
Other favorites in this anthology included:
“The Shadow of Space”: After its engines are sabotaged by an insane passenger, a starship is hurled through space far beyond the speed of light until it bursts through a tear in the fabric of the known universe and finds itself in a strange and inexplicable dimension where the laws of physics do not apply.
“The Sliced-Crosswise Only-on-Tuesday World”: The Earth’s population has exploded such that people are placed into stasis to awaken and live only one day per week. Tom Pym lived only on Tuesdays…until he fell in love with a Wednesday woman. Tom decides to apply for a transfer to Wednesday, but be careful what you wish for!
“Sketches Among The Ruins of My Mind”: An alien vessel appears in Earth orbit, causing the human race to travel backward in time by four days for every day calendar day forward, all the while retaining their memories. Each day, Mark Franham watches the events of his life in reverse—until his children and wife are gone. Will Earth’s greatest minds be able to stop this horrific process? If so, will it give Mark—and the rest of humanity—a chance to live their lives again and avoid the mistakes they made the first time?
“After King Kong Fell”: An elderly man regales his granddaughter with a whimsical tale of what truly happened after King Kong fell from the Empire State Building and how it affected his family.
