Informed SF readers, particularly Philip K. Dick fans, will enjoy British author Aylett's laugh-out-loud (mock) biography of (fictitious) cult writer Jeff Lint, though the dense prose, rife with odd word juxtapositions, can be daunting. Aylett (Slaughtermatic
) traces his subject's strange life from Lint's early days in the 1940s writing for the pulps (including Astounding, Baffling
and Maximum Tentacles
) to the rumors of his untimely death and beyond. Lint unsuccessfully dabbled in almost every genre imaginable: short stories, novels (Jelly Result
), comics (The Caterer
), cartoons and Hollywood screenplays (Nose Furnace
). Lint's script for a never-made Star Trek
episode, notable for its wild creativity and unfilmable special effects, led Gene Roddenberry to exclaim, "This isn't prose, it's gnats in formation!" Aylett doesn't shrink from providing revealing details of Lint's feud with rival Cameo Herzog, nor of Lint's habit of cross-dressing when he delivered his manuscripts, which he always did in person. Illustrations of such items as Lint jacket art and a page from his Star Trek
script add to the fun. Agent, John Richard Parker at MBA (U.K.)
. (June 1)
