Gun, with Occasional Music
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 Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author | Jonathan Lethem |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Gary Isaacs, (2003 Harvest reprint) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt |
| Released | 1 March 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 262 pp (1st edition, Hardcover) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-15-136458-3 (1st edition, Hardcover) |
Gun, with Occasional Music (1994) is a novel by Jonathan Lethem. It blends science fiction and detective fiction. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel follows the adventures of Conrad Metcalf, tough guy and wiseass, through a futuristic version of Oakland and Piedmont, California.
[edit] Plot summary
Metcalf is hired by a man who claims that he's being framed for the murder of a prominent urologist. Metcalf quickly discovers that nobody wants the case solved: not the victim's ex-wife, not the police, and certainly not the gun-toting kangaroo who works for the local mafia boss.
[edit] Characters in "Gun, with Occasional Music"
- Conrad Metcalf – Hardboiled private "inquisitor"
- Maynard Stanhunt – Doctor who is murdered before the novel begins; mentioned only
- Orton Angwine – Man accused of murdering Maynard Stanhunt
- Delia Limetree – Woman who switched sexual nerve endings with Metcalf; mentioned only
- Theodore Twostrand – Scientist who invented evolution therapy; mentioned only
- Celeste Stanhunt – Dr. Stanhunt's widow
- Sasha – Kitten whose brain has been accelerated by evolution therapy, known as an "evolved" kitten
- Grover Testafer – Doctor who shared a practice with Maynard Stanhunt
- Morganlander – An inquisitor for "The Office"
- Kornfeld – An inquisitor for "The Office"
- Shand – Clerk at the Vistamont Hotel
- Danny Phoneblum – A local gangster
- Joey Castle – an evolved kangaroo employed by Phoneblum
- Pansy Greenleaf – Woman with whom Celeste Stanhunt lives
- Dulcie – An evolved ewe employed by Testafer
- Barry Greenleaf – An evolved child, otherwise known as a "baby-head"
- Catherine Teleprompter – An inquisitor for "The Office"
- Maker – Not a name, but a job title; scientist who makes "blends" at a makery
- Cole Bayzwaite – Architect
- Walter Surface – Private "inquisitor"
- Nancy – Surface's companion
- Woofer – A baby-head
- Tweeter – A baby-head
- Overholt – Works for Phoneblum out of a bar called the Fickle Muse
[edit] Major themes
[edit] Lethem's future
Thanks to technology, children can become smarter and more cynical than adults; such children are known as baby-heads. Animals, too, can be given the intelligence of a human being through bioscientific techniques, a concept explored previously by David Brin in his Uplift novels and Roger Zelazny in Dream Master. Lethem's animals stand midway between these two; like Brin's, they have clearly delineated and delimited rights; like Zelazny's, however, they are part of a darker symbolism.
Another technology Lethem envisions is nerve-swapping, in which couples trade erogenous zones for purposes of sexual experimentation. The protagonist of Gun, with previously underwent such a procedure, and is now trapped with a woman's neuro-sexual apparatus because his girlfriend skipped town with his male one.
People are more sensitive in Lethem's future; asking questions is considered astonishingly rude, making private detectives, whose job involves prying, social pariahs. Rather than broadcast bad news to squeamish listeners, the radio plays ominous music instead. (Handguns also come with threatening violin soundtracks.) And everyone is "on the make"--make being a snortable drug available in a dozen different blends (Acceptol, Avoidol, Forgettol) in stores called makeries.
[edit] Release details
- 1994, U.S., Harcourt, ISBN 0-15-136458-3, Pub date 1 March 1994, Hardcover
- 1995, U.S., Tor, ISBN 0-312-85878-7, Pub date 1 March 1995, Paperback
- 2003, U.S., Harvest, ISBN 0-15-602897-2, Pub date 1 September 2003, Paperback
