Mr. Boy

by James Patrick Kelly

More about the strange Cage family from the stories "Solstice" and "Chillon". Now comes Peter, Wynne's son, who is going to be 12 years old forever, or at least as long as Wynne keeps paying to have him twanked. With his robot playmate Comrade, Peter is growing up in a world where virtual reality is commonplace and where people can have themselves genetically altered into dinosaurs, bears or a three-quarters scale replica of the Statue of Liberty.James Patrick Kelly, author of this Nebula Award-nominated story, is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award and has been nominated 10 times for the Nebula Award. His stories appear frequently in Asimov's Science Fiction, and he writes the magazine's "On the Net" column. Publishers Weekly has called him "a meticulous craftsman in the demanding short-story form".


2 hr and 54 mins

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

Audiobook

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

James Patrick Kelly (please, call him Jim) has had an eclectic writing career. He has written novels, short stories, essays, reviews, poetry, plays and planetarium shows. His short novel Burn won the Science Fiction Writers of America's Nebula Award in 2007. He has won the World Science Fiction Society’s Hugo Award twice: in 1996, for his novelette “Think Like A Dinosaur” and in 2000, for his novelette, “Ten to the Sixteenth to One.” His fiction has been translated into eighteen languages. He produces two podcasts: James Patrick Kelly's StoryPod on Audible and the Free Reads Podcast (Yes, it’s free). His most recent publishing venture is the ezine James Patrick Kelly’s Strangeways. His website is www.jimkelly.net.

Reviews

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely sad and depressing piece of work, it probably wasn't a barrel of laughs to begin with but these days the utter philistinism and pointlessness of the acts of the super-wealthy would get anyone down. Mr Boy's arrested development isn't the worse modification - but subjecting your kid to medcial treatments to keep them twelve is honestly the rottenest thing and turning yourself into a replica of the statue of liberty doesn't even come across as some sort of performance art, just showing off your narcissism. There's nothing aesthetic or expressive or compulsive about the body modifications on display, it's all pure childishness, and really, really ugly. So, yeah. One of those stories that works almost too well at what it sets out to do. Yuck.

[James DiGiovanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 but only because it’s so short. Really intriguing world building and some very honest, if not terribly original, psychological exploration. The prose hums along at a good pace but doesn’t do anything fancy enough to make it interesting in itself. Still, it does the job of sounding like first person narration by a 25-year-old who’s been living in a 12-year-old’s body for most of his life.

[raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Year’s Best Science Fiction, Eighth Annual Collection

[Wayfarer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself is not that interesting and is rather bad. What made me give this book 3 stars, is the social commentary that pervades the whole book.

Some main interrogatives the book asks the reader indirectly, like what does it mean to be alive or dead, others more directly, like when a japanese reporter asks mr.boy why do they partake in those acts of destruction of cultural heritage.

Of course, sometimes little details of the time period this book was written in show somehow, but that's not a big deal.


The best part, to me, happened near the end of the book.

"Still, I could not imagine how being poor could be worse than being rich and hating yourself. I had seen enough of what it was like to be dead. It was time to try living."

[Beth Shearon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as part of a sci-fi collection and I really wish I hadn't. There should be ratings on these things to give people fair warning. I can't even believe this was included in a 'best of' collection and it almost makes me afraid to read new authors now. There is some seriously twisted ew in this story.

[John Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Patrick Kelly has made it into my list of favourite Sci-Fi authors with one short novel.

This book is jam packed with social commentary, wildly speculative bio-science and great humour. It is dry, insightful and fun to read. Highly recommended. What should I read next ?