The Best of Philip José Farmer

by Philip José Farmer, Dorman T. Shindler (Editor)

From the stories that led to the creation of his best-selling Riverworld and Dayworld novels, to more unusual selections like "Uproar in Acheron" (a western-cum-fantasy), "The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod" (a story which works as both literary pastiche and homage), or break-all-the-rules fiction like "The Henry Miller Dawn Patrol" (a Farmer favorite which was first published in Playboy magazine), it's all here. With a total of 20 different stories and one Farmer-penned introduction that add up to nearly two hundred thousand words, The Best of Philip José Farmer is, hands down, the finest collection of Farmer stories ever assembled.

Contents:
The Lovers (1952)
Sail On! Sail On! (1952)
Mother (1953)
The God Business (1954)
The Alley Man (1959)
My Sister's Brother (1960)
Uproar in Acheron (1961)
The King of Beasts (1964)
The Shadow of Space (1967)
Riders of the Purple Wage or the Great Gavage (1967)
Don't Wash the Carats: A Polytropical Paramyth (1968)
The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod (1968)
The Oögenesis of Bird City (1970)
The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World (1971)
Sketches among the Ruins of My Mind (1973)
After King Kong Fell (1973)
The Henry Miller Dawn Patrol (1977)
Riverworld (1966)
The Making of Revelation, Part I (1980)
One Down, One to Go (1990)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

572 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Brian Engelhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful 500+ page collection of some of the best shorts by Philip Jose Farmer. Farmer was one of the first sci-fi writers to make explicit use of sex in his stories (not play-by-play porn but descriptions of nudity and frank admissions that sex was happening). He also addressed topics like interracial sex and substance abuse. Farmer provided a refreshing dose of reality for a genre hopelessly mired in juvenile worlds of robots and alien monsters.

[Rob Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

They put together his work in these newer books.
He's great. Look for the old originals ""The Stone God Awakens",
"Image of the Beast" that can't even fit in a category.
"Jesus on Mars"
That's how I found out about him. Heinlein had Farmer as one of three dedications in "Stranger in a Strange Land". The Idea of Jesus on Mars inspired that whole thing.
just read everything you can get your hands on by this guy. The strangest stuff I ever read. Better then LSD.
roballen2

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not connect with most of the stories.

My favorite was "Uproar in Acheron."

"Riverworld" was interesting.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Farmer is not afraid to write about a variety of topics, including sex and social justice. Really fun to read.

[Manuel B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is there any explanation needed?

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author as noted in Chapter 9 of Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.