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Spaceman Daddy
Take Turgenev's First Love, turn Vladimir into a girl and Pyotr Vasilyevich into Zinaida's father. Throw in a one way expedition to Mars made into a TV reality show and add a brain-frying orgasm suicide pill. Next add a sprinkling of porn, the advice of a well hung Oxford don, a thief with a camcorder, and a murder trial. Finally set the whole lot to David Bowie's Heathen and you're about done. Stick the events in the year 2024 and have them stewed over by an aged bisexual fifty years beyond that.
Spaceman Daddy, is a semi-erotic exploration of sex and sexuality, love and death. Julia looks back at a life defined by her tragic first love when she was a history undergraduate at Oxford. Unable to believe her girlfriend's fantastic beliefs about her father, confused by her own sexuality and infidelities, drugs and a world possessed by a space expedition reality show called One Way, Julia decides to exile herself to her own new 'planet' in America. After twelve years of displacement working the San Pornando Valley, she is persuaded by her ex male lover, Dr. Jeremy Bantham, to return to confront the incredible.
This adult novel examines the interplay between the privacy of sexuality and social acceptance. It looks at incest and voyeurism without flinching, in order to expose the anatomy of male and female sexualities and sexual politics, cultural norms and queerness. Where do we draw the lines and why?
"History is a narrative only because things that happened are most easily recalled in sequence. No one remembers the whole thing, just the next day and the next and another day. Nudge, nudge, nudge. Time on a conveyor belt. Sure. Then my mum made some tea. We sat down. We talked about Emma. I got upset. I stood up. I said I was leaving. I mean, really leaving. Blah, blah, blah. One thing follows another and before you know it you're on the final page of the final book of You."
Spaceman Daddy, is a semi-erotic exploration of sex and sexuality, love and death. Julia looks back at a life defined by her tragic first love when she was a history undergraduate at Oxford. Unable to believe her girlfriend's fantastic beliefs about her father, confused by her own sexuality and infidelities, drugs and a world possessed by a space expedition reality show called One Way, Julia decides to exile herself to her own new 'planet' in America. After twelve years of displacement working the San Pornando Valley, she is persuaded by her ex male lover, Dr. Jeremy Bantham, to return to confront the incredible.
This adult novel examines the interplay between the privacy of sexuality and social acceptance. It looks at incest and voyeurism without flinching, in order to expose the anatomy of male and female sexualities and sexual politics, cultural norms and queerness. Where do we draw the lines and why?
"History is a narrative only because things that happened are most easily recalled in sequence. No one remembers the whole thing, just the next day and the next and another day. Nudge, nudge, nudge. Time on a conveyor belt. Sure. Then my mum made some tea. We sat down. We talked about Emma. I got upset. I stood up. I said I was leaving. I mean, really leaving. Blah, blah, blah. One thing follows another and before you know it you're on the final page of the final book of You."
188 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2014
2 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Daniel D. Watkins
10 books12 followersDaniel Watkins has written seven novels and is working on his latest novella, Kissimi and the Kid. His debut novel, Glengoth was a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Awards (2012). His fourth novel, Where Are the Songs of Spring? is about a family's journey from the Egyptian revolution of 2011 to a dystopian future in 2020. The novel won a finalist medal in the Next Generation Indie Awards (2013) and received a Notable Book award (2013) from Shelf Unbound literary e-zine. Portrait of a Landscape, set in artists' colonies of New York and St. Ives, received a finalist medal in the Readers' Favorites Book Awards (2013). His novel, Spaceman Daddy was released in November 2014. In 2019, the completed Malcotte Worms trilogy was made available on Amazon in a three part collection called: Symposion. His novels are social and political satires. Daniel Watkins is an independent author and English consultant for the King Khalid Foundation. He now lives with his partner in Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 31, 2014
For a novel that is so provocative, allusive, insightful and witty, it is a shame that it also needs some fairly rigorous editing, especially towards the end. Its premises are eclectic and erudite, and for me, the most interesting are: the one way Mars mission; the current (and presumably enduring) obsession with online self-publicity; and the nature of history as what the narrator calls a "complex function" of past events. The first suggests a compelling existential metaphor, but is also used to evoke a disturbed Hamlet's musings about one's place in the universe: Ray, the "Space Daddy", functions as Bowie's Major Tom except that his loss is part of the programme, and he is a victim of "the solitude and loneliness of a man cramped by infinite space".
"To exist is to be watched" in this near-future world, and the name of one of the journalists covering the mission being Berkley Rider compelled me to look for an analogous significance in the name of Julia's tutor, Jeremy Bantham (as close to Bentham as Berkley is to Berkeley): maybe it suggests a quantitative view of pleasure, which at least accords with his being well-endowed.
"History has a sort of narrative logic." Is Julia blaming a kind of determinism for all that happens? Probably not, because the interesting twist here is "when we stop feeding stuff into the [great complex function...], that's the end of history."
It would be inappropriate to present Spaceman Daddy as a kind of adult Sophie's World, because Watkins' writing also succeeds on the level of his wordplay, and his sense of timing in suggesting, then solving, a surprising narrative puzzle. But if a greater awareness of the value of detached analytical thought, perhaps at the expense of being judgemental, is produced, I'm all for it.
"To exist is to be watched" in this near-future world, and the name of one of the journalists covering the mission being Berkley Rider compelled me to look for an analogous significance in the name of Julia's tutor, Jeremy Bantham (as close to Bentham as Berkley is to Berkeley): maybe it suggests a quantitative view of pleasure, which at least accords with his being well-endowed.
"History has a sort of narrative logic." Is Julia blaming a kind of determinism for all that happens? Probably not, because the interesting twist here is "when we stop feeding stuff into the [great complex function...], that's the end of history."
It would be inappropriate to present Spaceman Daddy as a kind of adult Sophie's World, because Watkins' writing also succeeds on the level of his wordplay, and his sense of timing in suggesting, then solving, a surprising narrative puzzle. But if a greater awareness of the value of detached analytical thought, perhaps at the expense of being judgemental, is produced, I'm all for it.
March 13, 2015
Here we have a near future sci-fi novel that begins with the death of David Bowie, and captures the spirit of those '60s & '70s sci-fi novels of the sexual revolution that explored the possibilities of future sexual mores and expression ( ie. Delaney, LeGuin, Heinlein, even Anthony did this to one extent or another). We have a plot that loosely follows a short story by Turgenev. We have a reality show about the colonization of mars. We have a steady stream of philosophy in jokes. We have lots and lots and lots of sex. The component parts all appeal, so what went wrong?
The author was a philosophy major at Cambridge, is fluent in a number of languages, and splits his time between living in Saudi Arabia and living in Portugal. I am certain Mr. Watkins is a smart fellow, and it seems likely that he is far more accomplished than I. So what went wrong?
I hesitate to use the word pretentious. It has classist connotations that I don't care for, and I like my artists to be ambitious, to test the boundaries of what they know. If such an artist's reach exceeds their grasp, I am prepared to be very forgiving. So what went wrong?
When in a creative writing class, as teacher, assistant or student, I often encountered writers who would respond to criticism by claiming they only wrote for themselves. In my head, my response was that since they had apparently already accomplished their modest goals they no longer had any need to burden anyone else with their writing. Here is where I can begin to articulate what I find wrong with Spaceman Daddy. The novel is clever, it is packed full of cleverness, but i get the sense that everything is weighted with great personal meaning and private in-jokes. The further along I went in the novel the greater sense I got that the whole exercise was nothing but a complicated series of symbols of great importance to Mr. Watkins, but was unlikely to have much meaning for anyone else. Perhaps I'm wrong, and this novel will have its followers, but I can't shake the feeling that this novel holds little of value for anyone other than the author.
I feel the need to add that Daniel Watkins has the rare ability to write an explicit sex scene that isn't an embarrassment to read. This is a quality that is in short supply these days.
The author was a philosophy major at Cambridge, is fluent in a number of languages, and splits his time between living in Saudi Arabia and living in Portugal. I am certain Mr. Watkins is a smart fellow, and it seems likely that he is far more accomplished than I. So what went wrong?
I hesitate to use the word pretentious. It has classist connotations that I don't care for, and I like my artists to be ambitious, to test the boundaries of what they know. If such an artist's reach exceeds their grasp, I am prepared to be very forgiving. So what went wrong?
When in a creative writing class, as teacher, assistant or student, I often encountered writers who would respond to criticism by claiming they only wrote for themselves. In my head, my response was that since they had apparently already accomplished their modest goals they no longer had any need to burden anyone else with their writing. Here is where I can begin to articulate what I find wrong with Spaceman Daddy. The novel is clever, it is packed full of cleverness, but i get the sense that everything is weighted with great personal meaning and private in-jokes. The further along I went in the novel the greater sense I got that the whole exercise was nothing but a complicated series of symbols of great importance to Mr. Watkins, but was unlikely to have much meaning for anyone else. Perhaps I'm wrong, and this novel will have its followers, but I can't shake the feeling that this novel holds little of value for anyone other than the author.
I feel the need to add that Daniel Watkins has the rare ability to write an explicit sex scene that isn't an embarrassment to read. This is a quality that is in short supply these days.
April 2, 2015
The novel by Daniel Watkins is definitely interesting, but leaves me a bit confused regarding the storyline. Several issues deal with past situations and they impact the daily lives of Emma, her girlfriend, Julie and to some extent Emma’s mother.
The relationship between Emma and her girlfriend Julia is well-developed. On the other hand, I didn’t feel that we really understand Dr. Jeremy Bantham’s character.
It’s appropriate that Julia’s escape to LA is seen as leaving for outer space !
Thank you GoodReads for the book.
The relationship between Emma and her girlfriend Julia is well-developed. On the other hand, I didn’t feel that we really understand Dr. Jeremy Bantham’s character.
It’s appropriate that Julia’s escape to LA is seen as leaving for outer space !
Thank you GoodReads for the book.
March 29, 2015
Should have been wary when the first thing that happens is you kill Bowie. Who the fuck just kills David Bowie?
A futuristic sci-fi novel and the acceptance of everything sexual.
A destruction of a first love, living in porn valley for a new life and going back to the past.
Disappointing and confusing for the longest time. Maybe its just that i shouldnt read while sick.
A futuristic sci-fi novel and the acceptance of everything sexual.
A destruction of a first love, living in porn valley for a new life and going back to the past.
Disappointing and confusing for the longest time. Maybe its just that i shouldnt read while sick.
August 25, 2015
I won this book through Goodreads first reads.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews