https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/ebooks/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown-00-h.html
And that is one olf his greatest stories. His stories were almost prophetic, casually, charmingly, of the evolving world — the situation of the “under people”; the Rediscovery of Man that parallels the sudden explosion of concern for ” my culture” that arose in the 1960s, before which people talking about their cultural origins was cute and quaint, and unacceptable if taken very seriously; the political activism of the pounding beat of the e-teli-keli; addiction and medical experimentation on prisoners in remote locations as was done during WW2; and the overarching utter callousness of ruling classes. All written up beautifully.
They ring true because he knew. He worked in the CIA and wrote the manual on psychological warfare.
by mindbird
5 Comments
[Norstrilia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norstrilia) is awesome and recommended if you’re okay with something kinda weird and a bit dated in parts.
C’mell was the original cat girl.
I love his writing; it suggests faraway ideas and places like Vance. I love the idea of the Instrumentality of Mankind as a benevolent conspiracy, ruling humanity from a distance. His stories are an ideal reminder that science fiction has always had the capacity for weirdness and, to some extent, cynicism, even before the New Wave.
I wish there was an audio version of the NESFA Press edition of Norstrilia like the one for The Rediscovery of Man.
My favorite stories in the collection are “A Planet Named Shayol”, “Think Blue, Count Two”, “Scanners Live in Vain”, “The Dead Lady of Clown Town” & “From Gustible’s Planet”.
On a side note: I was driving through Connecticut the other week when I passed a sign for Waterbury and I was going to remark to my friend to look for a solid gold milk truck (“Western Science Is So Wonderful”) but I would only have been amusing myself and confusing them..
True. I had a teacher give us one of his stories in an English class where he basically dreamed up iPhones/iPads like seven decades before they were a thing.