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The Tin Angel
Book by Goulart, Ron
- GenresScience FictionHumor
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
53 people want to read
About the author
Ron Goulart
607 books98 followersPseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.
In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.
In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 12, 2020
DAW Collectors #80
Cover Artist: Jack Gaughan
Name: Goulart, Ronald Joseph, Birthplace: Berkeley, California, USA, 13 January 1933
Alternate Names: Carston Bingham, Lee Falk, Kenneth Robeson, Frank S. Shawn, Joseph Silva, Con Steffanson.
The number one TV show in the land is “Love That Bowser.” Bowser is a cocker spaniel taken out of a pound and turned into a singing, dancing, wise cracking cyberdog. The book has a ton of funny moments.
Bowser’s guardian Bert Schenley accompanies him to Lower California where a war is going on between the U.S. and Mexican guerrillas. Bowser is part of a show to entertain the troops. Bert is also supposed to find out what happened to Conglomerate Network News reporter Pierre Hock.
Bowser is supposed to do a comedy bit with Eli Katz. He’s the President of the Western United States. They’re being pursued by two agents from the Office of Overt and Clandestine Services. Also turning up is TV preacher the Reverend Scudder.
They find a clue in the floorboards of a cantina. It’s a memo from Pierre about a looming assasination attempt on Katz. Bert and Bowser are too late to stop the attempt but Katz isn’t hurt.
They go back to California with Katz’s cousin Joanna to see what’s going on. The book is short and fun.
The Tin Angel is the symbol of the United States Transition Service which provides free funerals for all.
If you need a good laugh or even a chuckle, read Goulart.
Cover Artist: Jack Gaughan
Name: Goulart, Ronald Joseph, Birthplace: Berkeley, California, USA, 13 January 1933
Alternate Names: Carston Bingham, Lee Falk, Kenneth Robeson, Frank S. Shawn, Joseph Silva, Con Steffanson.
The number one TV show in the land is “Love That Bowser.” Bowser is a cocker spaniel taken out of a pound and turned into a singing, dancing, wise cracking cyberdog. The book has a ton of funny moments.
Bowser’s guardian Bert Schenley accompanies him to Lower California where a war is going on between the U.S. and Mexican guerrillas. Bowser is part of a show to entertain the troops. Bert is also supposed to find out what happened to Conglomerate Network News reporter Pierre Hock.
Bowser is supposed to do a comedy bit with Eli Katz. He’s the President of the Western United States. They’re being pursued by two agents from the Office of Overt and Clandestine Services. Also turning up is TV preacher the Reverend Scudder.
They find a clue in the floorboards of a cantina. It’s a memo from Pierre about a looming assasination attempt on Katz. Bert and Bowser are too late to stop the attempt but Katz isn’t hurt.
They go back to California with Katz’s cousin Joanna to see what’s going on. The book is short and fun.
The Tin Angel is the symbol of the United States Transition Service which provides free funerals for all.
If you need a good laugh or even a chuckle, read Goulart.
June 27, 2022
2.5 ⭐️
What the fuck was all this?
What the fuck was all this?
December 13, 2020
The Tin Angel was the second of many Goulart novels that were published by DAW Books. Set in the future world of 1999, it features Bowser, a talking dog, and Bert, his handler, who are sent to entertain the troops in a fractured Southern California/Mexico and get quite a bit more than they bargained for. It's a typical madcap Goulart farce, satiric and ironic, with all of the best lines saved for the dog, not the boy. It has a whimsical Jack Gaughan cover with several interior illustrations, as did many of the early DAW editions.
September 14, 2017
Another Goulart book I haven’t read before – and one that’s a bit oddball even by his standards. The story involves a talkative cyborg dog named Bowser who is a big Hollywood star (and acts like one) and his agent Bert. The two are sent on a road show in Mexico to entertain troops fighting a civil war, but Bert uses the opportunity to look for a friend, TV journalist Pierre Hock, who has gone missing in the area whilst working secretively on a big story involving a planned assassination attempt on the President of the Western United States. So basically it’s the usual Goulart template of Protagonist bouncing from location to location meeting oddball characters who provide the info he needs, only with a wisecracking egotistical talking dog (albeit one who is more than he appears to be). Which should work, but I felt Goulart didn’t really pull this one off – there are some good scenes, but the set-up doesn’t quite work for me and I found Bowser more annoying than funny.
September 9, 2020
I knew I was going to enjoy this book - and that it would be a lighthearted read (often hard to find in these old pulp SF paperbacks) when the frontispiece featured a uniformed gunman running away from a giant floating hot dog.
Whoever did this cover missed the mark, and quite frankly the title is misleading, too. "The Tin Angel" is a nickname for a hearse that picks up deceased politicians. So why there's a cute dancing dog in front of a huge metal Darth Vader skull is beyond me. The byline and back cover description are terrible.
Here's what it should say: a man and his not-so-faithful bionic companion go on a routine morale tour to Mexico and find themselves deep in a conspiracy. They will adventure through mind control, militias on both sides, bombs, overwhelmingly large shopping centers (did Ron Goulart see into the future? the shopping center sounds like the Vegas outlet malls), and occasionally taking cover from a flying hot dog.
Bowser is delightful - an adorable cocker spaniel rescued from the LA pound, then enhanced with speaking abilities and for some reason a plastic nose - and speaks primarily in sarcastic one-liners. He's still a dog, though. In one cute scene where the motley crew is stuck after a bombing attempt and takes refuge at a taco stand. Bowser refuses to move until Bert buys him a tamale.
There are quite a lot of characters, plot holes, coincidences, and other silliness. And stop being offended by "toxic masculinity" and other crap. This book is pure comedy and sadly probably would not fly in today's world. Even if it's a flying hot dog.
March 18, 2021
I know feeling betrayed by a book about a talking cyborg dog is useless and pathetic, but THIS USELESS AND PATHETIC BOOK REALLY PISSED ME OFF. Unbelievably weak. No effort. The concept could have been fleshed out into something amusing (at least) but instead we get what amounts to as the dullest espionage story ever written, starring of course the cyborg dog who basically only uses his miraculous voice to spew the lamest racist jokes a 10-year-old wouldn't even find adequate. I'm not even pissed about the dog's racism. I'm pissed about the quality of his jokes. I'm pissed about Ron Goulart and his unimaginative wAcKiNeSs. But mostly I'm pissed at myself for reading this entire lame novel and writing this entire lame paragraph in order to display my discontent with some 3rd-rate science fiction hack who was probably as enthusiastic about writing this book as I was reading it.
May 31, 2018
I generally read Goulart when I need a good laugh. I've read most of his books a half-dozen times or more. But, in this one... a talking dog to entertain "troops" in "Lower California"? Ahhhh, satire!
June 5, 2022
Ron Goulart is one of my favorite Science Fiction writers
August 30, 2009
Before the era of Computer Generated Imagery, in order to visualize a singing, tap-dancing entertaining dog, one would almost have to imagine a cybernetic animal. That is exactly what Ron Goulart does in his 1970s novella, The Tin Angel.
The title does not, interestingly enough, refer to the mechanically-enhanced canine Bowser, but to the iconic United States Transition Service Wagon of the day (a "futuristic" 1999) which carted deceased heads of state off to their final resting place. In the nonfictional world, it would be recognized as a simple hearse, but in Gourart's vision, such "land vehicles" are indeed a rarity. (Apparently, by the time 1999 rolled around, there was nary a Monte Carlo to be seen.)
But that much is hardly relevant. What is germane to the story is that Bowser's handler, Bert Schenley, has a missing reporter friend who vanished South of the Border amidst the contemporary Mexican-American War. Coincidentally enough, Bert and Bowser are delegated to entertain the troops stationed in old Mexico, thus placing them in perfect proximity to search for a missing man all on their own.
In between feedings and drinking binges, Bowser barks out a rapid-fire succession of put-downs and insults to those around him during the caper. Bert makes a series of incredulous decisions, placing the duo (soon-to-be trio, with the addition of the requisite attractive love interest) in a number of troubling circumstances wherein they must rely upon their wits to save themselves. A hotdog stand is gratuitously destroyed (think The Blues Brothers Go To Mexico, and you've got an idea of the scale of destruction here), an Under-President of the United States (West Coast Division) is shot at, and... How does it all end? One already knows, long before having reached the last page, that the word "kissed" is going to be in there. (NOTE: It is.)
Clearly, the book is intended as satire. However, its bizarre moments do not make up for all the other formulaic components which comprise the short book. The byline on the book's cover reads: After things fell apart, America really went to the bow-wows! Ironically, so does this book.
The title does not, interestingly enough, refer to the mechanically-enhanced canine Bowser, but to the iconic United States Transition Service Wagon of the day (a "futuristic" 1999) which carted deceased heads of state off to their final resting place. In the nonfictional world, it would be recognized as a simple hearse, but in Gourart's vision, such "land vehicles" are indeed a rarity. (Apparently, by the time 1999 rolled around, there was nary a Monte Carlo to be seen.)
But that much is hardly relevant. What is germane to the story is that Bowser's handler, Bert Schenley, has a missing reporter friend who vanished South of the Border amidst the contemporary Mexican-American War. Coincidentally enough, Bert and Bowser are delegated to entertain the troops stationed in old Mexico, thus placing them in perfect proximity to search for a missing man all on their own.
In between feedings and drinking binges, Bowser barks out a rapid-fire succession of put-downs and insults to those around him during the caper. Bert makes a series of incredulous decisions, placing the duo (soon-to-be trio, with the addition of the requisite attractive love interest) in a number of troubling circumstances wherein they must rely upon their wits to save themselves. A hotdog stand is gratuitously destroyed (think The Blues Brothers Go To Mexico, and you've got an idea of the scale of destruction here), an Under-President of the United States (West Coast Division) is shot at, and... How does it all end? One already knows, long before having reached the last page, that the word "kissed" is going to be in there. (NOTE: It is.)
Clearly, the book is intended as satire. However, its bizarre moments do not make up for all the other formulaic components which comprise the short book. The byline on the book's cover reads: After things fell apart, America really went to the bow-wows! Ironically, so does this book.
April 15, 2011
A silly science fiction book purchased at an Oslo, Norway paperback exchange in Mother's Majorstua neighborhood, then traded back in. There wasn't much of a selection...
August 3, 2024
A good refresher book, similar humor to Airplane! In some spots. Liked it. However lacks real believable female characters, sadly a trend in Goularts books it seems.
July 3, 2009
See my review of "Wildsmith".
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews