Re: Slightly unusual book suggestion request

[Nora and Bryon Daly]

Nick Arnett wrote:
> If you were sending books to a 25-year-old young man who's into punk,
> skateboarding and such, who tends to always want to be very cool... what
> science fiction would you recommend? A relative of mine who fits that
> description is stuck in a place where he has a lot of time on his hands for
> the next few months. He says he likes science fiction, but couldn't
> remember the names of any of the authors he likes. In case it helps, his
> favorite band is the Misfits.
>
> Speaking of such things, I happened to be in a rehab house in Sacramento a
> few months ago and saw a fresh copy of "Kiln People" on one of the guys'
> bookshelves... boy, was he surprised when I showed him my name in it.
>
> Don't ask... but I'm quite serious about the recommendations.

Hmm. It's hard to say, without any examples of books he likes. Given
his other likes, maybe he'd like some books that are subversive or feature
rebellious-type heroes or those operating outside/against normal society. I'm trying to think of some that might fit that description:

- Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series.
- Alfred Bester: Demolished Man
- Maybe some of Heinlein's stuff?
- John Varley: Wizard/Titan/Demon
- Joe Haldeman: Forever War
- Assorted cyberpunk novels (ie: Neuromancer by William Gibson). Here's a
link to an list of definitive cyberpunk by Bruce Sterling:
http://www.eff.org/Global/America-US/Publications/Bruce_Sterling/cyberpunk_library.biblio
- A lot of Neil Gaiman's stuff would fall under the "subversive" category,
but his stuff is more fantasy/spec fic than SF. His Sandman graphic novel series
is excellent. - Another graphic novel, The Watchmen, by Allan Moore/Dave Gibbons, is definitely
worth considering if he likes the super hero genre at all (but this isn't a typical super
hero story).
- Totally outside of the SF realm, maybe something like Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) might
appeal to him?

-Bryon


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