The Madonna and the Starship

by James K. Morrow

In the golden era of sci-fi TV, why were alien crustaceans so darned literal? Beloved 1950's star Uncle Wonder must create the ultimately irreverent television show — or crayfish from outer space will inflict their death-ray on an unsuspecting viewership.

It is New York City, 1953. The new medium of live television has been kind to young pulp-fiction writer Kurt Jastrow. Not only does he enjoy scripting a popular children’s space opera, Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers, he also plays an eccentric tinkerer on Uncle Wonder’s Attic.

But Kurt’s world is thrown into disarray when two extraterrestrial crayfish-like creatures arrive at the studio. Certain that the audience for a religious program program represents "a hive of irrationalist vermin,” the crustaceans scheme to vaporize its two million viewers. Kurt and his co-writer have a mere forty hours to write and produce an explicitly rational and utterly absurd script that will somehow deter the aliens from their diabolical scheme.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Speculative Fiction, Satire, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2014

About the author

Born in 1947, James Kenneth Morrow has been writing fiction ever since he, as a seven-year-old living in the Philadelphia suburbs, dictated “The Story of the Dog Family” to his mother, who dutifully typed it up and bound the pages with yarn. This three-page, six-chapter fantasy is still in the author’s private archives. Upon reaching adulthood, Jim produced nine novels of speculative fiction, including the critically acclaimed Godhead Trilogy. He has won the World Fantasy Award (for Only Begotten Daughter and Towing Jehovah), the Nebula Award (for “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge” and the novella City of Truth), and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award (for the novella Shambling Towards Hiroshima). A fulltime fiction writer, Jim makes his home in State College, Pennsylvania, with his wife, his son, an enigmatic sheepdog, and a loopy beagle. He is hard at work on a novel about Darwinism and its discontents.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.4* of five

The Publisher Says: In the golden era of sci-fi TV, why were alien crustaceans so darned literal? Beloved 1950's star Uncle Wonder must create the ultimately irreverent television show — or crayfish from outer space will inflict their death-ray on an unsuspecting viewership.

It is New York City, 1953. The new medium of live television has been kind to young pulp-fiction writer Kurt Jastrow. Not only does he enjoy scripting a popular children’s space opera, Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers, he also plays an eccentric tinkerer on Uncle Wonder’s Attic.

But Kurt’s world is thrown into disarray when two extraterrestrial crayfish-like creatures arrive at the studio. Certain that the audience for a religious program program represents "a hive of irrationalist vermin,” the crustaceans scheme to vaporize its two million viewers. Kurt and his co-writer have a mere forty hours to write and produce an explicitly rational and utterly absurd script that will somehow deter the aliens from their diabolical scheme.

My Review: What a lark! (And I don't mean either the cigarette or the Studebaker.) If you're old enough to have watched Lost in Space or Star Trek at night, you'll resonate with this tale's daffy Firesign-Theater-esque Smothers-Brothers-y energy; if Captain Video crossed your eyestalks as a sprog, a sharp pang of nostalgia will pierce your vitals to add tears to the grins.

Anyone born in, say, 1965 or later, well now...come try the waters of your elders' Glorious Pools. It is a shocking amount of fun to see every shibboleth twisted in the mouths of desperate, deranged people attempting to avert catastrophe...to no avail, and yet no catastrophe ensues. And the reason it doesn't will, if you have an irony bone at all, leave you wryly pursing your mouthparts. Religion takes its licks...there is nothing on this Earth so satisfying as the mental picture of Jesus arguing that playing god is a bad idea on a show called Not By Bread Alone...but so does rationalism by way of a surrealist romp of acid-trip proportions. Eight-foot-tall blue lobster-women wearing the statue of Prometheus from Rockefeller Center as a necklace tend to fall on the surreal end of my personal story-telling spectrum, don't know about you.

What prevents this from achieving full five-star glory for me is the frenetic pace and unwieldy cast. Too many faces, too little screen time. There was a lot to do, and I enjoyed seeing it done; but a bit more book or a few fewer folks would've served the tale being told better. The Qualimosans were so incredible that they would simply lose yet more credibility with more face-time; it's the secondary characters, Saul Silver the editor of Andromeda magazine, Walter Spalding the producer, a few others...who needed a bit more room to make their deeply funny and still very believable quirks more than Thespian masks.

This is a minor grumble, however, hidden in a major guffaw. The fun that I had reading this delectable morsel of mash-up gumbo made this trim volume a sterling value.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 2 out of 5]

I surprised myself by not liking this book very much.

Perhaps it was my fault. Not only did I move into this book from one I absolutely loved, but I also had high expectations, since this same author's earlier work, 'Towing Jehovah,' was such a mind-blower for me back in college.

I suppose what I was expecting was something similar: a touching and irreverant exploration of faith (and the lack of it) both inside and outside organized religion.

What I got instead was a story of a sci-fi writer in the 50's being co-opted by nihilistic extraterrestrial lobsters with an axe to grind against Christianity.

That sounds kinda cool, right? I thought so too. But it just didn't do it for me. The story plodded along, the characters were all take-or-leave, the action was sparse, and the philosophy was trite.

Do i still adore James Morrow? Yes, I do. But....well, every fracas ain't a victory.

[Joe Karpierz · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I reviewed Peter Watts' short story collection Beyond the Rift, I mentioned that the one and only work of his that I had read was the Hugo-nominated BLINDSIGHT, and that I decided to reread my review of that novel in preparation for the review of
the collection.

I will start THIS review by saying the one and only work by James Morrow that I have ever read was his Hugo-nominated novel TOWING JEHOVAH. That novel was nominated in 1994, and thus was published in 1993. I do remember reading that book and not caring for it very much. I went hunting for my review of TOWING JEHOVAH, but couldn't find one. It's possible I wasn't even doing reviews back then. But I do remember thinking that I probably won't ever read anything by James Morrow again.

I really should stop doing that.

Kurt Jastrow is a science fiction writer of short stories that have been published in the magazine Andromeda. But like so many other things in life, that source of income mostly dried up. So, Jastrow turned his talents to the blossoming medium of television. As we open our story in the New York City of 1953, Jastrow is writing a thrice weekly children's television show entitled "Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers". After each episode, he himself plays a scientist/inventor who, along with his young sidekick, explains some of the science in the episode by performing an experiment.

Well, don't you know that aliens are watching. One day, out of the blue - as it were - blue alien lobsters appear on the tv screen in the studio to announce to him that the "people" of their planet want to give him an award for his show. It seems that they are impressed with his logical and rational approach to the stories in his show. They are, to coin a term, "logical positivists". So, could he please be ready in a few days when they will appear with his award.

And so they did, and that's where the problems began. The Qualimosans, as they called themselves, wandered by another studio in which a rehearsal was taking place for a religious program broadcast by the same network - NBC - called "Not by Bread Alone" that was to be broadcast on Sunday morning. The aliens heard enough of the rehearsal to be extremely upset about it, as in their eyes the show was supporting superstitious ideas. In fact, they called it "televised irrationality". In fact, to show their displeasure, they say they will harness the signal broadcast through the televisions to kill the 2 million viewers of the show (not bad ratings, according to one character in the novel) on Sunday morning if the show does indeed broadcast the irrational ideas they think it will.

Thus Jastrow and the writer for "Not by Bread Alone", Connie Osborne - on whom Jastrow has something of a crush, maybe even more, I suppose - must race against time to save 2 million viewers by rewriting the original episode "Sitting Shivah for Jesus", and instead presenting the episode - you guessed it - "The Madonna and the Starship".

Let me tell you folks, this novel is a real hoot. It harkens back to those "golden days of science fiction", where it wasn't about characterization and literary merit, but good old fashioned invading aliens - in this case blue lobsters (I wanted to make reference to space squids, but I really couldn't figure out a good way to do it) - and unrealistic weapons (really, a death ray through a television??). This book was FUN.

Morrow has made a living satirizing organized religion, and this book joins the club in that regard. It is funny and irreverent, of course, but it is also spot on in a lot of its views on both sides of the fence. I laughed at its situations as well as its one liners - would YOU ever ask an alien blue lobster if it wanted to go out for seafood? - but at the same time nodded to myself as I recognized many of the things Morrow was poking at. The resolution to the problem - never mind the wacky stuff Osborne and Jastrow go through to get there - is a surprise, one which I appreciated.

And I really did like both Jastrow, Osborne, and the rest of the cast of characters, even the aliens. They were well written and engaging. I found myself rooting for Kurt and Connie as the novel went on, and I certainly was hoping they'd find a way to save 2 million human beings.

This book was a lot of fun to read, and it's been a lot of fun to describe to people when they ask me "what ARE you reading?" when they see the Madonna, the Starship, and the blue lobsters on the cover. 20 years ago I may not have thought I would ever again read anything by Morrow, but I'm glad I read this.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.75

James Morrow's The Madonna and the Starship is the sort of book you just don't want to put down.  Fortunately, because it's a quick read, you shouldn't have to!

The story:  It is the 1950's.  Kurt Jastrow writes pulp science fiction stories.  Because he can't make a living selling short stories, he also works in television broadcasting as a writer on Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers, and also as a character actor for Uncle Wonder's Attic.  The television programs have found an audience in space aliens (creatures that appear quite lobster-like) who appear to Kurt as fans of his works.  Unfortunately they also plan to vaporize two million people within the next two days.  Kurt turns to fellow writer Connie Osborn (head writer for the religious program Not By Bread Alone) for help.  Or perhaps he turns to her because it might be his last chance to tell her how he feels about her.  In either case, Kurt and Connie have two days to send forth a broadcast that will convince the aliens to leave Earth alone.

Author Morrow captures the language and soul of the 1950's very well.  This could easily be a story from the very pulps that Kurt Jastrow writes for.  If anyone had told me that this was a reissue of a book originally released in the mid-fifties, I'd likely believe them.  The nods to popular culture of the time (from the early days of television, to pulp editors like Hugo Gernsbach) are a delight to catch.

The book is filled with humor, reminding me of the likes of Joseph Heller, Richard Hooker, and Ron Goulart.  Yet underneath that humor is a remarkably touching, philosophical story.

Morrow loves to question organized religion and encourage humanism, and this book is no stranger to these themes.  There's a nice juxtaposition of having the religious broadcast be a part of the response to the lobster-like aliens who wield god-like power.

I don't read books a second time very often (there are too many I haven't read to spend time reading some twice!), but with this I expect I'll make an exception ... there's a lot packed in to this book, and I think I'll enjoy it even more the second time around.

Looking for a good book?  The Madonna and the Starship will have you laughing out loud while you think about what it means to be human.

[zxvasdf · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the man who killed God comes another exploration of religious themes through atheism, or in this case, logical positivism.

We all wish we could be as cool-headed as pulp writer Kurt Jastrow when approached by lobsters from outer space who wish to annihilate the viewership of a certain television show based on the illogical qualities of religion. The prospect of such a genocide of fellow humans is enough to force any moral and rational human to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring such a thing doesn't come to pass, even if it requires you to skew your religious worldview. Thus is the conundrum faced with aplomb and a level-headed instinct for survival by Jastrow's crush, Connie Osborn who happens to helm Not By Bread Alone, the Sunday broadcast show responsible for the impending genocide.

I blew through this immensely entertaining novel. A recurring theme is raging against the dying light, taken from Dylan Thomas's poem, and it can be attributed to several things: reason, love, and actual death. We fly though verbal slapstick reminiscent of that era. (A lot has been lost in our age of CGI-soaked mindless entertainment; we have traded genteel substance for style.) The heart races as we bear witness to the birth, from the minds of our intrepid duo, Morrow's analogues of Adam and Eve, of a completely new philosophy of logical positivism, rising from the ashes of the Judeo-Christian religion.

With a genius move by Morrow, we are turned onto our heads with a laugh out loud, incredulous moment which translates slowly in the denouement into a somber yet touching affair in which Dylan's famous denial of that final darkness rings true.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, barb-filled short novel/novella set in 1953 about a tv writer working on a SF show for kids who receives an unexpected award for representing reason and skepticism from some aliens who come from a planet where civil war is going on between the forces of rationality and those of superstition. Suddenly, the writer is in a race to demonstrate to them that Earth is free of superstition or they'll do us a favor by eradicating the superstitious vermin. Morrow has a gift for taking a way-out premise and making it just real enough to make a point, and his humor leavens it throughout. Some laugh-out-loud moments.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1953 NYC, Kurt Jastrow writes Buck Rogers-esque science fiction for NBC. When two aliens resembling giant lobsters and inform him of their plan to kill two million viewers of religious programming for their not being logical positivists, Kurt knows he must stop them. Fans of James Morrow know the kind of satiric, irreverent humor that will follow. It's a fun, fast read that also plays homage to classic sci-fi and the "Golden Age of Television."

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Madonna and the Starship is about a group of actors, writers, and producers working together to try to fool a group of potential attacker from going to war. That's a premise that sounds remarkably like the one in Shambling Towards Hiroshima, Morrow's other novella that I read about a week before. I'll admit I didn't notice the similarity until I was more than halfway through, but when I did, I wondered if these were written this was intentionally, to serve as two sides of a coin. Knowing Morrow and how clever he is, I'm going to guess that's the case.

Instead of satirizing and skewering monster movies and World War II, Morrow focuses on early television shows and religion. You know, to keep things light. What happens is a television writer and actor receives a message from extraterrestrials who want to give him an award on his science show, but once they land and prove themselves to be who they say they are, they reveal that they also want to exterminate anyone who watches another show about religion and faith. In their eyes, anyone who discards science for the supernatural are too stupid to live, so it's up to this writer and his friends to come up with a scheme to prove that those viewers are worthy, too.

It's a hefty premise, but one that should be familiar to Morrow's readers. This is the man who wrote the Godhead trilogy, after all. What's interesting about this tale is that he flips the story a bit, going after the die-hard scientists instead of the die-hard religious. The motivations of the main character isn't to save religion, but to save the millions of people who would be killed over it, but the end result is the same: Leave the religious to do their thing, even while you believe something different.

I haven't read the Godhead trilogy (yet), but they were the first books of his that drew my attention. At the time, any book that looked at religion from an outsider's point of view piqued my interest, and I'm surprised I've had the books for so long and they're still unread. These two novellas -- smart, engaging, full of real characters, and plot-driven -- remind me that I need to move them up the priority. I still have a soft spot for that kind of religious fiction, so I expect I would like them.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

James K. Morrow is a satirist with a keen eye for religious hypocrisy and a sharp wit to take the puff out of puffery. The Madonna and the Starship is set in the misnamed “Stone Age” of television when network children’s programming involved “cardboard sets, primitive special effects, and subsistence budgets.” Protagonist Kurt Jastrow writes the scripts for Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers and performs in an educational sketch to end the show. His life takes a surreal turn when he is contacted by space “immense blue bipedal lobsters” who are committed logical positivists threatening to wipe out humanity unless he can convince them that the religious programming they have intercepted is satire, never meant to be taken seriously.
Kurt’s discussion with the lobsters takes a few sharp philosophical turns, as when one of them asks for a definition of ethics: “Nothing you need worry about,” I piped up … “almost everyone on our world thinks logical positivism is just as swell as secular humanism.” Uh-huh. As someone says near the end of the novel, “Positivism always goes better with popcorn.” Indeed, it does.
Morrow is often compared to Kurt Vonnegut, with whom he shares a sardonic sense of humor. That is a just comparison.

[Jani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've run into several accounts of SF that states either that James Morrow is one of the foremost satirist in SF or the only one (I guess making him the foremost as well). I have certainly not run into similarly satiric SF that The Madonna and the Starhip represents.

Much like in Star Trek Voyage Home, aliens arrive to Earth looking for something not quite there. Instead of whales, they are looking for a character from an science show for kids. However, they are in danger of quickly turning from possible transgalactic award givers to annihilators of the whole humankind if Kurt Janstrow doesn't figure a way to fool these secular crusaders.

While the novel does not rise to the heights of the fourth Star Trek nor the oddly similar Futurama novel, it is an entertaining jaunt. It is of course also a nod (and a satire) of the early history of SF, which perhaps could be better appreciated with more extensive knowledge of that period. All and all, while entertaining, the notes about religion seemed a bit stale to me.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Morrow is one of those writers who I will follow anywhere he takes me. From Killing God with his "Towing Jehovah" Trilogy. He's a writer who has sensibilities very similar to mine--the philosophical and theological through a very satiric lens.

While he's definiltey not in their category but imagine a Vonnegut or PKD inspired heavily by Dante/Voltaire/Dostoveksy/Camus and Kafka but with a little more more of an impression they're a teacher and this is their side hustle.

So Madonna and the Mothership is about a golden age tv writer, writing for another audience. A race of rational empiricist Alien Crustaceans who find Christianity to be the worst thing ever. Add Howdie Dudey and you're almost there.

This is definitely not his best work due to my score--but I still smile thinking about this books promise.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our hero, star of his own local 1950s Sci-Fi TV serial, finds out he will be honored by aliens who are impressed by his rational, science based view of the world. Unfortunately, while honoring our hero, the aliens stumble upon a rehearsal for a Lamp Unto My Feet type of religious show, Not By Bread Alone. The aliens plan on using their death ray to roast Sunday's viewers of the show, while our hero and his unrequited love (and writer and producer of Not By Bread Alone) try to convince the aliens that the show is satire by rewriting the script. Will they succeed? More importantly, can humankind live by bread alone? Morrow has a lot of fun with the genre conventions while also riffing on the questions of science and faith common to his fiction.

[Brian Bohmueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Morrow's quirkiest tale to date, coming in slightly above The Asylum of Dr. Caligari. It was delightfully irreverent, yet thoughtful, with plenty of 50's pop culture references and delicious high fallutin' verbage.....and did I mention quirky! As in Aliens meets Howdy Doody quirky!

I particularly like that the tale emphasized that not only is militant religiosity dangerous, but so is militant nihilism. Let's just retire the militance out there, please!

Overall a fun read!

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although clever and amusing, this novella felt very stretched. It didn't really feel like there was enough plot here for the length, and several scenes, especially all the rushing around, felt like filler. I think this would have made an excellent long short story, but there's not enough here to justify a novella.

[Boweavil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joy, a laugh out loud, a puzzle, a satire, a masterpiece of silliness. Will be best appreciated by those of us who were watching US television programs in the early 1950s, but others will enjoy the fantasy and fun.

[Rachel]

Morrow is back in better form with a crazy and fun sci-fi novel that tries (and partly succeeds) in doing more.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Morrow writes very entertaining Kurt-Vonnegut-esque type dark comedies employing a lot of satire, especially of the religious variety.

This latest book takes place in the 1950’s and centers on protagonist Kurt Jastrow, an aspiring dramatist who earns a living as a pulp-fiction science fiction writer. Currently he is head writer for a schlocky tri-weekly science fiction adventure series, “Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers.” He also stars in a ten-minute epilogue at the end of each installment, “Uncle Wonder’s Attic,” in which he guides a young kid through a scientific experiment suggested by that week's Brock Barton episode.

Jastrow’s mediocre existence is jolted when he gets a message from two blue lobster-like creatures from the planet Qualimosa. They announce they are coming to see him because they love his program, and want to present him with the “Zorningorg Prize”. They also intend to exterminate the pockets of irrationality throughout the universe, which means destroying all viewers of another program on the same network, a weekly religious series “Not By Bread Alone.”

Jastrow, along with the religious program's writer/producer and babe Connie Osborne, conspire to come up with a satirical script that will convince the Qualimosans that “Not By Bread Alone” is actually exposing the illogic of religion rather than valorizing it. They write a script called “The Madonna and The Starship,” which is very amusing, and they succeed in saving the Earth.

The book has lots of funny bits, such as this one:

"Connie: “Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that these crustaceans are exactly what they say they are. Somewhere beyond our solar system lies a planet of logical positivists. … I hope your Qualimosans aren’t typical of alien races. What could be more boring than a galaxy run by Bertrand Russell?”

And then there is the need to placate the sponsors’ during the airing of "The Madonna and The Starship," resulting in this scene (that results in a sharp uptake in sales for these products):

Jesus: “Eat these measures of Sugar Corn Pops … for they are my body.”

Brock: “You know, Jesus, the great thing about Sugar Corn Pops is that it’s got the sweenenin’ already on it….”

Jesus: ‘Most impressive,’ Jesus replied, methodically distributing eight mugs of warm, chocolate-flavored beverage. ‘Drink this Ovaltine, for it is my blood.’”

There is also a bit of a surprise twist to the ending, so that even non-atheists will be pleased.

Evaluation: If you love satire and aren’t offended by writing that makes gentle fun of religion, this short book has many laugh-out-loud moments. Morrow has won a number of awards for his work, and is worth getting to know. (My two personal favorites are This Is The Way the World Ends, 1985, and Towing Jehovah, 1994.)

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

New James Morrow - Yipee! One of my favorite authors. I got this as a generous gift from LT friend Richard. This was a really fun read. The last couple books from him were more historical fiction set in the time of the early settlers to America and I just didn't connect with them. With this one, he gets back to his satirical, philosophy questioning, witty ways that I loved in his past works, like Bible Stories for Adults and the Towing Jehovah trilogy.

The story set in the Classic TV era of the 50's and takes the idea that our TV broadcasts are going out in to the vast reaches of space, and turns it on its ear. Kurt is a writer for a pulp sci-fi show (think Flash Gordon) and an actor in another show; Uncle Wonder (think Mr. Wizard). He receives a mysterious transmission from alien creatures from the Planet Qualimosa, who declare that they are coming to give him an award for his work is doing on his science program. Once they arrive, we discover that they plan on massacring the 2 million viewers of NBC's very popular religious program. Its up to Kurt and his wacky band of TV writers and actors to save the day.

It is funny, ridiculous and witty, with a dose of real discussions of religion vs atheism and other philosophical questions underneath it all. My only complaint would be that it is perhaps too short for the number of characters and situations presented, or perhaps not long enough. Still a must read, in my opinion.

Some quotes that stuck with me...

"When people asked me why I'd decided to seek my fortune in New York, I always replied, 'I came for the trees'...'That is, I came for the greatest of all the good things trees give us, better than fruit or shate, better than birds. I speak of pulp. Such a savory word. Without pulp there was no Amazing Stories. Without pulp, no Weird Tales, no Planet Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Galaxy, or Astounding Science Fiction..."

"What is sleeping", she asked.
"A lapse in rational consciousness," I replied
"Ah, you mean religion" said Volvavont, emitting the squonk, squonki, squonk noise by which Qualimosans expressed amusement

"You have poker on Qualimosa?" asked Saul.
"The rules are so logical and self-evident that the game has evolved independently on many worlds, as did chess and mahjong," said Volavont. "Seven-card stud, I daresay, is a universal constant, rather like electron mass and the speed of light."

S: 9/1/14 F: 9/7/14 (8 Days)

[Lindsey Lawntea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. The review was not required to be positive. The views and opinions expressed below are entirely my own. This review also appears on NetGalley, Amazon, and my blog, Mediatron (under construction)

I did not expect to like The Madonna and the Starship as much as I did. I judge books preemptively by the covers no matter how much I try not to, and this one struck me as "self-published," a controversial topic I have definitely picked my side in (while there are some good ones out there, I generally believe that publishers reject a work for sound reasons). I am always up for science fiction and satire, good or bad, however, so I entered the giveaway. Turns out, this book isn't self-published and the juvenile cover was misleading.

The book follows Kurt Jastrow, who writes science fiction stories for pulp magazines and runs a children's science fiction show (which reminded me a bit of the early Doctor Who serials). He uses his love of knowledge to ensure that there is as much science in his fiction as possible, much to others' chagrin. When aliens arrive and take offense to a religious program, Kurt must team up with his love interest and fellow producer to save the world.

The book is very well-written and a lightning fast read at 192 pages, and the book manages to be both ridiculous and sort of profound (as profound as a book featuring ginormous talking crayfish can be). In the vein of the genre, the ending is tidy and polished, although I felt some of the issues were brushed over (more of that on my blog).

As an intellectual atheist, I'm someone who enjoys a good bout of religious satire, but I also have a "live-and-let-live" complex that makes it difficult for me to handle anything too offensive or sacrilegious, as I realize I don't have any definitive answers either and thus am in no position to judge. However, Morrow manages to find a working balance and I feel even an open-minded Christian could find this story amusing. The book discusses a lot of philosophy and ideology and shares the moral of tolerance even as it is mocking those beliefs.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Brilliantly Irrepressible Work of Satirical Pulp Speculative Fiction

James Morrow demonstrates why he should be viewed as the George Carlin of speculative fiction in his clever, wickedly funny, and brilliant, satire “The Madonna and the Starship”, in which he pokes fun not only at Christianity, but also 1950s pulp fiction, most notably its science fiction. Morrow’s hero is Kurt Jastrow, the creator and head writer for the NBC television show Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers, whose alter ego, Uncle Wonder, offers children lessons in rational thinking and the joy of doing science in his Uncle Wonder’s Attic, which follows every broadcast of Brock Barton. Much to his surprise, Jastrow discovers that he has fans that are truly out of this world, a couple – male and female – of crustacean aliens from the Planet Qualimosa, who promise to bestow upon Jastrow, one of their planet’s highest honors. However, upon their arrival on Earth – or rather, more precisely, New York City – they discover that humans are not the thoughtful, rational beings of the kind represented by Uncle Wonder and threaten to kill via a lethal death ray, all of the viewers – counting in the millions – of a popular religious-themed drama that is shown nationally on NBC every Sunday. With only a few days to spare, Jastrow and his colleagues must write a script for that drama which will demonstrate to the Qualimosans just how rational humanity is, and discouraging them from committing a death ray massacre, by rewriting some crucial New Testament history involving Jesus and his disciples. Morrow’s terse novel is a most affectionate look back at New York City in the 1950s, which while focused on television, also introduces readers to the likes of one notable British poet noted for his all too frequent visits to a popular tavern in the West Village section of Greenwich Village. Long-time admirers of James Morrow’s fiction, as well as those unfamiliar with it will find much to rejoice in “The Madonna and The Starship”.

[Sarahj33 · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book in the library, I thought it was something I had already read, but it turns out I was confusing it with First Contact-Or, It's Later Than You Think. They have similar premises, and they both have yellow covers, so it's an easy mistake to make. As it turns out, if you liked First Contact-Or, It's Later Than You Think, you'll probably like this book a lot too.

Uncle Wonder, the star of a children's television show about science, is about to receive a prestigious award - the Zornigorg prize from the inhabitants of Planet Qualimosa, who are avid lovers of the show. But when they arrive and discover that Uncle Wonder's Attic is filmed next door to a religious program called Not By Bread Alone, they resolve to cleanse the earth of this metaphysical claptrap (Qualimosans, as everyone knows, are ardent Logic Positivists.) Now Uncle Wonder and the whole NBC team have to work together to convince the Qualimosans that Not By Bread Alone is actually religious satire, or its 2 million viewers will get the death ray this Sunday morning.

The result is irreverent and pretty hilarious. I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud quite a few times while I was reading. The entire thing reads like an improve game, where every question has to be answered with "Yes, and." As in, "Can you distract these lobster-shaped aliens while I go round up 2 gargoyle costumes for my TV show?" "Yes, and they can help me edit my science fiction magazine while we play poker with 2 insomniac writers." So if you're looking for a ridiculous read, complete with gratuitous product placement, wisdom from the periodical The Catholic Anarchist, and useful tips for disguising aliens so they fit in Manhattan, this is the book for you.

[Antonio Urias · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review and others are available on my blog.

Set in the world of 1950s television, The Madonna and the Starship is a loving satire and a spoof of the golden age of television, of 1950s science fiction at its silliest, and of religion and rationalism. It is, in short, exactly the sort of novel I should love. The title, the cover, the very idea of nihilistic, arch-rationalist, anti-religious, extraterrestrial lobsters contacting a TV hack writer and forcing him on pain of death ray to prove that humanity is as rational as they are is exactly the sort of craziness I usually enjoy. Sadly, it never quite lived up to its promise for me.

Kurt Jastrow is a science fiction writer churning out weekly episodes of Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers when he is contacted by alien lobsters from the planet Qualimosa who have seen his broadcasts and want to give him an award. This is complicated when they become aware of the "televised irrationality" of Not By Bread Alone, a Sunday-morning religious program, and offer to cleanse the world of irrationality. Kurt and Connie, his love interest and coincidentally the writer of Not By Bread Alone, make a frantic effort to rewrite the religious program as a biting satire, and thus save millions of people from lobsters wielding death rays.

To be fair there are a fair number of laughs, and Morrow treats everyone with equal opportunity satire, but it was hard to escape the feeling of missed opportunity. The concept is filled with inspired lunacy and satirical possibility, the end result seems to barely scratch the surface. There are a number of sharp and pertinent observations. The Madonna and the Starship is a well-researched, philosophically grounded novel that never quite lives up to its ambition.

**Received copy from NetGalley for review

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Madonna and the Starship, by James Morrow, we meet Kurt Jastrow, a science fiction and television writer in 1950s New York City. He writes for a show called “Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers,” and also embodies the character of Uncle Wonder for a segment called “Uncle Wonder’s Attic,” where he plays a 1950s’ type Bill Nye the Science Guy, showing kids scientific experiments and explaining the principles behind them. He is surprised one day when his television set comes to life on its own and two large, blue creatures that resemble lobsters with three eyes introduce themselves to him as being aliens from the planet Qualimosa, where logic and rationality are prized above all things. They have been monitoring the Earth’s television output (well, Kurt’s show, “Texaco Star Theater” and “Howdy Doody”) and have decided to award Kurt the Zorningorg Prize because of his ongoing championing of science. They obviously have not seen the religious program, “Not By Bread Alone,” written by the woman Kurt fancies, Connie Osborne, and when they find out about it, they determine that they should exterminate the 2 or 3 million Christians who tune in to that show every week. Only Kurt and Connie have a chance of stopping them, but can they come up with a workable plan in time?....If you’ve read any James Morrow, you’ll know that he is a very fine satirist and is particularly forthright about the problems with religious faith. This short novel is certainly a minor work in his oevre, but it is a lot of fun nonetheless, especially his rendition of what TV-land was like in the 1950s. You’ll either be offended or you’ll laugh a lot at this book; I did the latter, so recommended!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pleasant, short novella that attempts to answer the question of how some might react if aliens came in the 1950s and threatened to death ray a bunch of people for watching religious programming due to its irrationality.

Yes, that's the premise. As an atheist, I might just notice this stuff more, but there's been the push in the last decade or so to really kind of push this line of thinking, and then the questions arise as to why the movement feels like it's treading water instead of making significant progress.

Morrow's oeuvre is largely this sort of fictional, yet critical, examination of society's relationship with religion (predominantly Christianity), and, while I enjoyed much of this book, I couldn't help but sit and shake my head, thinking to myself, "We get it, Morrow, we get it. You don't like religion." It's arguably too over the top at times even when it's still enjoyable.

As a short tale, though, it's pretty good. As someone who's read his share of Morrow, it's a quality read. Just don't expect it to change your mind.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, thought experiment of a novel. What Morrow did for old monster B-movies in Shambling Towards Hiroshima he does for early Sfi-Fi TV shows of the fifties, lovingly sending-up their conventions while hanging a philosophical argument on a coat hanger plot. Militant logical positivists from the planet Qualimosa, in town to present a slumming it children's TV writer an award, discover Earth is not as rational as they thought when they catch a rehearsal of a religious program down the hall. Giving Morrow the platform to heavily ridicule all sides in the debate.

As usual with James Morrow, if you like intelligent humor, a lot of irreverence, and fancy yourself a secular humanist, you'll like The Madonna and the Starship. If you're religious, you should be reading him already and shaking your fist.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morrow's The Madonna and the Starship makes a delightful companion piece to his earlier short novel Shambling Toward Hiroshima, both chronologically and thematically. While the latter played in the world of monster movies in the 1940s, the former is set in the days of live television serials and SF pulps from the 1950s. But The Madonna nad the Starship isn't a stroll down nostalgia lane, though there is clear affection for the period and its often less-than-plausible science fiction ideas. Morrow uses the setting to construct one of his "thought experiments," which explores the problems of fanatical absolutism, conflict between faith and rationality, and the possibility of ethical compatibility. All in 180 pages. Morrow's wit is on display in the sharp dialogue throughout, while his fondness for turning tropes and expectations on their heads keeps the work fast-paced and funny.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I thought it was entertaining and, at times, both funny and thought-provoking. Several times, though, it seemed to be setting up some really slapstick moments, which are moments I truly savor in print, but each time it fell a little flat for me.

What also fell a little flat was the response of the protagonists to learning that we're not alone in the universe. You've got a sci-fi writer, a sci-fi editor, a religious-leaning writer and none of them exhibit any real astonishment or questioning of their personal philosophies. Nobody is really changed by this seminal bit of knowledge. In fact, the only characters that change at all are the aliens themselves.

As I said, it was entertaining, but not really profound. I just think there were some missed opportunities.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I discovered Towing Jehovah, I have been an unabashed Morrowite (Morrovian? Morroweenie?). The man combines big themes, fantastic imagination, and riotous humour like few else can. That said, Madonna/Starship is of a different vein, a light romp that posits the concept of alien logical positivist lobsters almost destroying the world, were it not for resourceful writers of a cheap NBC kids’ science-fiction show who intervene to save mankind. There’s an overwhelming amount of philosophy threaded through the narrative, but Morrow keeps it all afloat with flair, even when the destruction of two million Christians seems all but assured.

Read the full review here

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I read an unedited advanced copy of this book.

James Morrow tends to traffic more in ideas than in stories, the The Madonna and the Starship is no exception. Fortunately, he has really fascinating ideas. This book came about as a result of his discussions with his wife about the history of science fiction and the role even pulp science fiction plays in charting a course between religious fervor and nihilistic rationalism. The book is somewhat a refraction, since it is about a pulp science fiction writer, and is written in a form that is an obvious homage to pulp science fiction.

Overall, I enjoyed it, though I also think the ideas in it are better developed in Morrow's brilliant Towing Jehovah.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weird satire of science fiction and religious thought, set during the 1950s, with obligatory headnods towards McCarthy and Buck Rogers. A science fiction writer for a Buck Rogers-type show learns that logical positivist lobster aliens really really like his show, and then has to conspire to pull the wool over their eyes when they decide to vaporize the two million viewers of a religious drama on the same channel. The dialogue feels a little too snappy at times-- it's very hyper-stylized. But once I started reading it I didn't really want to stop even when I rolled my eyes at some of the author's phrasing. Also, this book read to me as very Jewish at times, despite the fact that the plot revolves around a Christian soap drama.