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User Friendly
With his Heinlein-influenced, solidly scientific, warmly human stories, Spider Robinson has won every major award that the science fiction field has to offer. "User Friendly" is a new solid chunk of Spider's universe that is both "reader" friendly and "sales" friendly. . .
282 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Spider Robinson
197 books674 followersSpider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author. He was born in the USA, but chose to live in Canada, and gained citizenship in his adopted country in 2002.
Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.
Robinson's writing career began in 1972 with a sale to Analog Science Fiction magazine of a story entitled, The Guy With The Eyes. His writing proved popular, and his first novel saw print in 1976, Telempath. Since then he has averaged a novel (or collection) a year. His most well known stories are the Callahan saloon series.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 10, 2017
A very mixed bag since the stories run from a few wonderful nonfiction essays & descend to the depths with a couple of written rap songs. After a few lines, I abandoned the last 2. (The only rap I have ever managed to listen to for more than a few minutes was "Rapping with the Duke" back in the late 1980s, a parody of John Wayne. It was a funny-once.) Both get 1 star.
The nonfiction essays were the best. There were 4 of them, although the last was a speech & ends the book. All well done, I'll give them all 4 or 5 stars.
"Plus Ca Change" was comedic & serious, but the comedy was somewhat increased since it's 20 years old & so times have changed even more.
"Pandora's Last Gift" was more about change. He discussed fighting with his tendency to become more cynical. He blamed a lot of it on the news. Bad news sells, so he rarely sees the good stuff. Specifically he mentioned the eradication of polio being buried in a squib way back on page 34, Section B, of the newspaper instead of getting the headline it deserved. It was a pretty good piece, although his love of MACs is rather ironic & gag-worthy, especially in context. He does have his enthusiasms. They're cute, but I wonder if he's ever heard the joke "If Operating Systems Were Airlines"?
(If you don't know it, google it. It's old, but MAC, Windows, & Unix(Linux) haven't changed. The first 2 are bright & shiny. When you ask MAC airlines anything, including the destination, you're told you don't need to know. Windows airlines always blows up unexpectedly. Unix folks still bring their own parts, build multiple planes, & take off in all directions. Some get there, others blow up, but they all think they've arrived.)
"Mentors" was about RAH, Sturgeon, & Bova, a great look at these giants of SF. He was most fortunate. It's nice to see someone give the last 2 the recognition they deserve & I especially appreciated him reminding me of Sturgeon's "And Now The News..." I've read several of Sturgeon's books lately, but not that short story.
There were a bunch of fiction pieces, all SF, of course. Most were 3 or 4 star reads. His points are obvious & well portrayed in innovative settings. Characters are well painted. "The Gifts of the Magistrate" was worthy of 5 stars. It was a great setup with an unexpected ending. Not a wasted word, either. It felt a little long at first, but it wasn't.
If you've never read anything by Robinson, this would be a good place to start, although Callahan's Crosstime Saloon was my first & favorite. This is a better look at his work overall, though.
The nonfiction essays were the best. There were 4 of them, although the last was a speech & ends the book. All well done, I'll give them all 4 or 5 stars.
"Plus Ca Change" was comedic & serious, but the comedy was somewhat increased since it's 20 years old & so times have changed even more.
"Pandora's Last Gift" was more about change. He discussed fighting with his tendency to become more cynical. He blamed a lot of it on the news. Bad news sells, so he rarely sees the good stuff. Specifically he mentioned the eradication of polio being buried in a squib way back on page 34, Section B, of the newspaper instead of getting the headline it deserved. It was a pretty good piece, although his love of MACs is rather ironic & gag-worthy, especially in context. He does have his enthusiasms. They're cute, but I wonder if he's ever heard the joke "If Operating Systems Were Airlines"?
(If you don't know it, google it. It's old, but MAC, Windows, & Unix(Linux) haven't changed. The first 2 are bright & shiny. When you ask MAC airlines anything, including the destination, you're told you don't need to know. Windows airlines always blows up unexpectedly. Unix folks still bring their own parts, build multiple planes, & take off in all directions. Some get there, others blow up, but they all think they've arrived.)
"Mentors" was about RAH, Sturgeon, & Bova, a great look at these giants of SF. He was most fortunate. It's nice to see someone give the last 2 the recognition they deserve & I especially appreciated him reminding me of Sturgeon's "And Now The News..." I've read several of Sturgeon's books lately, but not that short story.
There were a bunch of fiction pieces, all SF, of course. Most were 3 or 4 star reads. His points are obvious & well portrayed in innovative settings. Characters are well painted. "The Gifts of the Magistrate" was worthy of 5 stars. It was a great setup with an unexpected ending. Not a wasted word, either. It felt a little long at first, but it wasn't.
If you've never read anything by Robinson, this would be a good place to start, although Callahan's Crosstime Saloon was my first & favorite. This is a better look at his work overall, though.
August 25, 2021
This is a kind-of mixed bag of odds-and-ends by Robinson, including several essays, raps, and a speech along with the stories. He is never shy about stating his fiercely-held viewpoints, and he is always very entertaining and usually quite amusing. (He's quite fond of puns. And good at them.) I preferred his earlier collections (Callahan books and Antinomy), but this one would serve as a good introduction to the full range of his works.
March 21, 2025
If this was supposed to be the perfect introduction to Spider Robinson's books, then I guess it's just not my thing.
The first story mentions a woman being raped three times and it doesn't really bother her. No connection to the story whatsoever, just there for shock value.
They say you can only make a first impression once and let's just say SR failed to make a good impression here.
The rest of the book is a mishmash of mediocre short stories, essays and "raps" (in which he tries to impersonate a southern Baptist preacher).
Some interesting ideas in the short stories. The one about the mythical warrior is pretty good. But that's about it.
No more Spider for me.
The first story mentions a woman being raped three times and it doesn't really bother her. No connection to the story whatsoever, just there for shock value.
They say you can only make a first impression once and let's just say SR failed to make a good impression here.
The rest of the book is a mishmash of mediocre short stories, essays and "raps" (in which he tries to impersonate a southern Baptist preacher).
Some interesting ideas in the short stories. The one about the mythical warrior is pretty good. But that's about it.
No more Spider for me.
May 20, 2019
Fire is the only cure for this misogynistic piece of garbage.
February 5, 2017
As always, genius, but this may be Robinson's grimmest and bitterest anthology. I can best describe it as collection of wildly imaginative and disturbing sci-fi stories (you know, rape, violence, sociopathic aliens, and the occasional destruction of humanity, the usual stuff), cynical essays, and beatnik-style eulogies for those who came before him. Perhaps most unnerving is how timely his remarks on society seem, 20 or more years later. Or perhaps that's a good thing; if we're still in the process of destroying ourselves and everything around us, at least that means we haven't yet actually accomplished that task.
And, even in the midst of all that, the shining supernova that is Spider Robinson's trademark wit.
Also the rare and proper use of the semi-colon.
(He also displays a surprisingly obsessive hatred of Geraldo Rivera. It's the obsessiveness that surprises me, not the hatred; Rivera's certainly done plenty to earn the scorn and ire of many, but he's hardly alone in that, and I'm not sure I would cast him as the greatest villain America has ever known. Then again, a lot has happened since the 1990's. Say what you will about his career, provided the children aren't listening, but I have to give him credit for the solid and heartfelt piece of journalism that is His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.. But that is very much neither here nor there. Where it is, I cannot say.)
Ooooooookay, tangent over. Perhaps I oughtn't write book reviews at this hour of the night.
Quotes:
"It seems to me that the floodtide of cynicism which has swamped North America was barely a trickle during my childhood. Perhaps it always seems so, to each generation; there seems to be a general societal agreement that it is well to shield children from our own cynicism until they are old enough to get drunk." -From "Pandora's Last Gift," p 233
"When you get afraid enough, you start to get selfish: it's human nature. Cynicism is a clever way of justifying that selfishness, so that you can live with yourself. Just strike the word 'cop-out,' and substitute the more palatable Post Modern term 'burnout.' (Be wary, by the way, of any school of thought whose very name is an oxymoron. They're telling you up from that they intend to travel on square wheels." -From "Pandora's Last Gift," p 237
"We as a society can do little-- because 'we as a society' is a very rare lifeform, with over fifty million legs and no brain." - from "Seduction of the Innocent," p 279
And, even in the midst of all that, the shining supernova that is Spider Robinson's trademark wit.
Also the rare and proper use of the semi-colon.
(He also displays a surprisingly obsessive hatred of Geraldo Rivera. It's the obsessiveness that surprises me, not the hatred; Rivera's certainly done plenty to earn the scorn and ire of many, but he's hardly alone in that, and I'm not sure I would cast him as the greatest villain America has ever known. Then again, a lot has happened since the 1990's. Say what you will about his career, provided the children aren't listening, but I have to give him credit for the solid and heartfelt piece of journalism that is His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.. But that is very much neither here nor there. Where it is, I cannot say.)
Ooooooookay, tangent over. Perhaps I oughtn't write book reviews at this hour of the night.
Quotes:
"It seems to me that the floodtide of cynicism which has swamped North America was barely a trickle during my childhood. Perhaps it always seems so, to each generation; there seems to be a general societal agreement that it is well to shield children from our own cynicism until they are old enough to get drunk." -From "Pandora's Last Gift," p 233
"When you get afraid enough, you start to get selfish: it's human nature. Cynicism is a clever way of justifying that selfishness, so that you can live with yourself. Just strike the word 'cop-out,' and substitute the more palatable Post Modern term 'burnout.' (Be wary, by the way, of any school of thought whose very name is an oxymoron. They're telling you up from that they intend to travel on square wheels." -From "Pandora's Last Gift," p 237
"We as a society can do little-- because 'we as a society' is a very rare lifeform, with over fifty million legs and no brain." - from "Seduction of the Innocent," p 279
September 7, 2020
*3.5-ish? Plus a 90s-era TW*
Anthologies like this one always present a conundrum: rate it as an average of the sum of its parts, or give a rating that reflects your overall impression at the close?
As an average, I must admit that there are enough pieces in here that do absolutely zilch for me. The first and second stories actively put me off – though that wasn't helped by the fact that it initially escaped my notice I'd picked up a collection rather than a novel. Switching mental gears, I was still turned off by the overabundant use of the word "rape." Then I recalled when these might have been written, filtered that through my 80s and 90s upbringing, and realised that yes there was both an obsession with the repugnant concept and a lack of mature understanding of its effects. (Not that everyone has that understanding now, but...)
The collection itself helped me switch expectations again. Though the first two stories are extremely dystopic, the remaining tales and essays mostly bring with them a sense of hope. Cynicism absolutely plays a strong role. But hope lingers throughout.
(We are not going to talk about the raps. I read one...and skipped the next. The end.)
The most poignant chapters are the ones that could've been written yesterday, grappling with concepts like shared joy, the imbalance of infinite wealth, the obstacles to peace inherent in learned (and forgotten) history, and the self-destructive cycle of Bad News Overload that has been driving us for longer than many realise.
Though some of these pieces reinforce my current cynicism, they still provided the escape I needed. Love is not futile. Putting our faith in Wonder is life-giving. And some day, some day, maybe people will grow to understand that eliminating need and giving folks space for joy and blessed time to think can lead to wondrous things.
Anthologies like this one always present a conundrum: rate it as an average of the sum of its parts, or give a rating that reflects your overall impression at the close?
As an average, I must admit that there are enough pieces in here that do absolutely zilch for me. The first and second stories actively put me off – though that wasn't helped by the fact that it initially escaped my notice I'd picked up a collection rather than a novel. Switching mental gears, I was still turned off by the overabundant use of the word "rape." Then I recalled when these might have been written, filtered that through my 80s and 90s upbringing, and realised that yes there was both an obsession with the repugnant concept and a lack of mature understanding of its effects. (Not that everyone has that understanding now, but...)
The collection itself helped me switch expectations again. Though the first two stories are extremely dystopic, the remaining tales and essays mostly bring with them a sense of hope. Cynicism absolutely plays a strong role. But hope lingers throughout.
(We are not going to talk about the raps. I read one...and skipped the next. The end.)
The most poignant chapters are the ones that could've been written yesterday, grappling with concepts like shared joy, the imbalance of infinite wealth, the obstacles to peace inherent in learned (and forgotten) history, and the self-destructive cycle of Bad News Overload that has been driving us for longer than many realise.
Though some of these pieces reinforce my current cynicism, they still provided the escape I needed. Love is not futile. Putting our faith in Wonder is life-giving. And some day, some day, maybe people will grow to understand that eliminating need and giving folks space for joy and blessed time to think can lead to wondrous things.
Read
November 18, 2020This book is a mixed bag of odds and ends from Robinson, with some short stories, some essays, and some raps that defy description. It's all typically Spider, but probably only of interest to serious fans. Many of the stories seem like they were a good beginning to a potential novel, and when they went nowhere, he blew the dust off them and had them published here.
In one essay about his mentors, Robinson says something with which I strongly identified:
"I was born, physically, in 1948. But I was born as a thinking being in early 1965, at age 6, when a librarian whose name I do not know gave me the first book I ever read all by myself, with no pictures in it. It was called Rocket Ship Galileo, the first of the books written especially for young people by the already legendary Robert Anson Heinlein, the first Grand-Master of Science Fiction."
Born a bit later, and already reading voraciously at age 11, my best friend handed me a copy of Glory Road, by Robert Anson Heinlein, and it started me on a journey which continues to this day.
Robinson has had, for many years now, a central theme in his stories. It's the belief that if we all became addicted to truth rather than lies, to giving each other love rather than hurting one another, and if all communication were as open and honest as telepathy, all the world's ills would go away. It's a lovely vision, and it's nice to visit it in Spider's stories once in a while.
Despite that, he does have a snarky little cynical streak he lets loose every now and then, and it's especially apparent in one of his essays which contains predictions about the future.
"When you can afford a TV linkup that offers you 245 channels in 3-D with digital stereo sound, there won't be a damn thing worth watching on any of them."
Nailed it - in 1990.
In one essay about his mentors, Robinson says something with which I strongly identified:
"I was born, physically, in 1948. But I was born as a thinking being in early 1965, at age 6, when a librarian whose name I do not know gave me the first book I ever read all by myself, with no pictures in it. It was called Rocket Ship Galileo, the first of the books written especially for young people by the already legendary Robert Anson Heinlein, the first Grand-Master of Science Fiction."
Born a bit later, and already reading voraciously at age 11, my best friend handed me a copy of Glory Road, by Robert Anson Heinlein, and it started me on a journey which continues to this day.
Robinson has had, for many years now, a central theme in his stories. It's the belief that if we all became addicted to truth rather than lies, to giving each other love rather than hurting one another, and if all communication were as open and honest as telepathy, all the world's ills would go away. It's a lovely vision, and it's nice to visit it in Spider's stories once in a while.
Despite that, he does have a snarky little cynical streak he lets loose every now and then, and it's especially apparent in one of his essays which contains predictions about the future.
"When you can afford a TV linkup that offers you 245 channels in 3-D with digital stereo sound, there won't be a damn thing worth watching on any of them."
Nailed it - in 1990.
September 25, 2024
Unlike the previous collection of his I read, there are just too many pieces that don't work. A story about horrifically alien possession in which a character says being raped multiple times was more enjoyable (nobody emerges from rape thinking "hey, that wasn't so bad."). A couple that hinge very heavily on fannish science fiction in-jokes. A couple that are just bad.
December 9, 2018
Think I enjoyed the essays much more than the stories on this one. The first one had a casual mention of rape that really annoyed me for half the book, so know that this is a product of its times.
May 5, 2019
I enjoyed this one.
Read
July 10, 2019+1/2+
November 23, 2019
A mixed bag, mostly a little disappointing.
December 13, 2021
(review coming)
August 22, 2007
SF, short stories and essays. I didn't know this was a book of short stories when I picked it up, otherwise it'd still be at the library, but I'd wanted to try something of Robinson's and the cover of this grabbed me: a geeky knight burning an old reel-to-reel mainframe at the stake. The first two stories (and many of the others) deal with rape in one way or another, and not, like, in a sensitive way. I don't like it, but I can see what he was trying to do with it, the larger questions he was trying to raise.
Spider's a funny guy with a twisty mind. He does great things with language, and his male protagonists rarely inhabit the world they think they do -- a world where they're always right and their needs come first -- and I can appreciate that. The essays mostly deal with his experiences as a SF writer and reader, and the ways Heinlein and Sturgeon influence his work.
Three stars. I'd really like to read a novel by him, but it seems he's mostly known for his short stories.
Spider's a funny guy with a twisty mind. He does great things with language, and his male protagonists rarely inhabit the world they think they do -- a world where they're always right and their needs come first -- and I can appreciate that. The essays mostly deal with his experiences as a SF writer and reader, and the ways Heinlein and Sturgeon influence his work.
Three stars. I'd really like to read a novel by him, but it seems he's mostly known for his short stories.
November 16, 2009
An occasionally self-indulgent series of short stories, essays, and transcripts of speeches, this book is cute and cuddly in a way that only Spider seems capable of. It's also angry, chiding, and sad. But always hopeful. I especially recommend the speech he gave on reading in America (or possibly on the dumbining of America, depending on how you look at it.)
Flawed, but lovely.
Recommended.
Flawed, but lovely.
Recommended.
July 9, 2015
User Friendly is funny ... to the point of being just plain stupid. Stupid jokes. Stupid puns. Stupid. And the science fiction is virtually non-existent. I could barely detect any. It's a book of short stories, essays, speeches, and rap. Yes, rap. That's stupid, in and of itself. The essays were the best, I guess. User Friendly is reader friendly, but that's about it. Lightweight BS. Not worth the $2.95 I paid for it, used. I feel ripped off. Not recommended.
June 7, 2012
This was my least-favorite Spider book. It just didn't seem to flow and he was trying to be too serious here. If you're addicted to the Callahan books, then this one will seem like a jarring change to you. It didn't seem to be well-planned out and the writing seemed rushed. Possibly a contractual obligation?
August 25, 2008
Some of the best short stories I've ever read, by Spider Robinson or other. Sometimes of a sci-fi bent, sometimes not, these stories usually gift-wrap a philosophical, moral, or ethical dilemma in a very tasty plot package. Light reading but stays with you long after you're done with it.
May 31, 2010
This is the first Spider Robinson I've ever read. The essays actually stuck with me better than most of the short fiction. The stories were written well and humorously, but were nothing to sink your literary teeth into. I'd be interested to read some of his longer work.
September 3, 2011
Mostly very poor examples of Spider’s work. It’s become quite self-referential and repetitive, and the only reason I finished was the hope that some of the spark he demonstrated in his earlier Callahan books and early novels would be repeated. It was not the case in ths collection.
February 9, 2008
Short stories and essays collection.
Read
June 21, 2009Science Fiction
May 5, 2015
Stories, essays, raps, songs, whatever it is is here. And they are well done and, since this is Spider Robinson, funny, amazing, smart, and wonderful. Thanks for a great collection
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews