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I suppose you're entitled to a warning.This is it.None of these stories are meant to be taken seriously.Sometimes I sit down at the keyboard and the sentences just start rolling out. I rarely know what's going to happen next. I sit, appalled, watching the bizarre progression of character, incident, and idea that assemble on the computer screen. It astonishes me to see how the most sparkling of sentences can contain no real semblance of appropriate social decorum.Nevertheless, every story in this collection has been purchased by an editor who probably should have known better.Several of these stories were submitted (and sold) to the magazines. Others came into existence because some desperate anthologist offered me money and I was foolish enough to take on the challenge. Maybe it was the excitement of the idea, or maybe I didn't have anything else to do that week-but it was probably the money.I make no apologies, I make no excuses. These stories are best consumed in small doses-like maybe when you need something to read while sitting on the toilet. I do not recommend trying to work through this collection the same way you would read any other book, turning pages to see what happens next. On the contrary, I suggest restraint, proceeding through the pages carefully and with a justifiable mixture of caution and dread.To be fair, a couple of these stories are here because they are funny.The rest of them are here because they refused to lie quietly in the drawer. They escaped. They crawled out of their file folders and demanded to be included without any regard to their obvious lack of substance. Those stories-the ones that I am embarrassed to admit authoring-should be obvious. Please do not encourage them by laughing out loud, or even smiling in their presence. They do not deserve even that much acknowledgment.If there is any kind of theme to this collection, it is that all of these stories have little or no redeeming social value. They were written as an explosion of peripatetic fragments in a delirious attempt at satire-except for a couple that were written for cathartic revenge on things (or people) that annoyed me.There are thirty stories in this collection, nearly 120,000 words. Some of these tales might be worth your time. Others might be unforgivable stinkers, meriting only of an angry trajectory at the nearest brick wall-but which stories fit into which categories will be a subjective experience for every reader.But let me put it this way-I suffered for my art. Now it's your turn.Including: The Great Pan American Airship Mystery Or Why I Murdered Robert BenchleyActual Comments From Lunar TouristsAfternoon With A Dead BusThe Baby Cooper Dollar BillThe Fabulous MarbleCrystallizationThe Kennedy EnterpriseA Shaggy Dog StoryThe Honker StingThe Trouble With HairyThe Killing CroakThe Ghost Of Christmas SidewaysFranz Kafka, SuperheroThrough Time And Space With Ferdinand FeghootThe SpellThe Schwarzchild RadiusA Brief Explanation Of How Budapest Became The Taco Capital Of The WorldTwo Meditations On King KongWhy There Are No Type C Civilizations (with Marvin Minsky)The Feathered MastodonF&SF MailbagThe Strange Death Of Orson WellesMichael Thinks The House Is HauntedThe Fabtastic FourDangerous VirginsThe Great MiloThe Old Science Fiction WriterWhen The "Martians" ReturnedFollow The Other Brick RoadA Mild Case Of DeathThe Shadows Of Alexandrium
I purchased Home on Derange directly from the author and I am leaving this review voluntarily.In the introduction to this volume, David Gerrold writes:"I suppose you are entitled to a warning."This is it."None of these stories are meant to be taken seriously."He then proceeds to explain how the thirty entries in this anthology came into existence.Home on Derange is a collection of thirty stories or other writings intended to be fun, and they most certainly are. It is a book full of varied speculations on life moving from the mundane into the extreme through the masterful use of language. If you enjoy reading tales with a twist, here is a book full of them. I found these stories so rich, I couldn't read them one right after the other. After almost every story, I had to set the book aside because my mind needed time to wrap itself around what I had read.While I enjoyed every story in this book, I found a few favorites that stood out to me.The first story is entitled "The Great Pan American Airship Mystery." A group of high-powered personalities take a trip on a passenger blimp across the United States. In their midst, there may be a threat as they discuss the more macabre aspects of their business.Another of my favorites is "Crystallization." It is a look at a major city's problem of freeway gridlock if taken to the extreme. If you live in a rural area, this one will make you glad you do."The Kennedy Enterprise" is a speculation on what might have happened if the Kennedy family had gotten involved in Hollywood instead of entering politics. I found this one the most fun as I pictured JFK the way he was described. I couldn't help but laugh.Those three represent only ten percent of what is contained in Home on Derange.My takeaways from Home on Derange are twofold.As a reader, I loved all the plot twists and swerves I found in this collection. These stories are all on the fringe and each one is bizarre. It is always nice to get away from serious sci-fi for a short time and enjoy something different. I found this an entertaining volume I will read again because there is so much to be found in those pages.As an aspiring writer, I was mesmerized at the use of language. According to the author, every story, every chapter, every paragraph, and every sentence should be surprising to the reader. I loved the way he used the language to paint pictures of situations I found the characters.Home on Derange is a marvelous collection of stories to read for fun and entertainment, as well as a diversion from life. If you're down, these stories will help one appreciate that no matter how bad one's own situation may be, it could be worse. A lot worse. They are all masterfully written and easy to digest a little at a time. It is not designed to be read from cover to cover in a single sitting. Each vignette is intended to be savored individually.If you enjoy speculative fiction in small bites, this one is for you.