Nothing is sacred to Di Filippo (Ribofunk
), as shown in this hilarious collection of parodies and other satirical writings that affectionately send up the SF genre as well as the publishing world. The opener, "Falling Expectations," spoofs the stylistic idiosyncrasies of Barry Malzberg, who aptly notes in his introduction that satire "is founded upon love." Like a good stage mimic, Di Filippo captures the essence of his targets, among them stuffy Robert Heinlein in "Manuscript Found in a Pipedream" and strange bedmates Stephen King, John Grisham and Michael Crichton as publishers in "Scissors Cut Paper, Paper Covers Schlock." "Excerpt from Decad
" skewers in miniature a dozen writers, including Gene Wolfe, Ursula Le Guin and Jeff VanderMeer. "It Was the Blessed of Times, It Was the Cursed of Times" solves the difficulty of getting students to read classic novels by having them rewritten by popular authors (e.g., Proust's Remembrance of Things Past
redone as a vampire saga by Anne Rice). Readers will laugh out loud. (Nov.)
