Thoreau’s Microscope

PM's Outspoken Authors #21

by Michael Blumlein

The innovative novels and stories of Michael Blumlein, MD, have introduced new levels of both terror and wonder into the fiction of scientific speculation. His work as a medical researcher and internist at San Francisco’s UCSF Medical Center informs his tales of biotech, epigenetics, brain science, and what it means to be truly if only temporarily human. Our title piece, “Thoreau’s Microscope,” inspired by a historic High Sierra expedition with Kim Stanley Robinson and Gary Snyder and first published here, is a stunning mix of hypothesis and history, in which the author inhabits Thoreau’s final days to examine the interaction of impersonal science and personal liberation. A journey as illuminating as it is intimate. Plus… A selection of short stories with Blumlein’s signature mix of horror, “hard” science, and wicked humor. “Fidelity” coolly deconstructs adultery with the help of an exuberant tumor, an erotic cartoon, and a male malady. “Y(ou)r Q(ua)ntifi(e)d S(el)f” will reset your Fitbit and your workout as well. “Paul and Me” is a love story writ extra-large, in which an Immortal from Fantasy comes down with a distinctly human disorder. In the chilling “Know How, Can Do” a female Frankenstein brings romance to life in the cold light of the lab. And Our overly intrusive Outspoken Interview, in which the ethics of experimental medicine, animal surgery, the poetry of prose, cult film acclaim, Charles Ludlam, Darwin, and gender dysphoria all submit to examination.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2018

Reviews

[Debbie Notkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this Outspoken Authors chapbook out of order because Michael Blumlein died and, while we never knew each other at all well, I was always pleased to see him, and he always gave me a warm smile, but I haven't read much of his writing. After he died, a number of people mentioned that he had talked about his own illness and impending death in the title essay in this book.

This series of chapbooks is well-designed to bring out the authors as people, and this one is no exception. I was completely taken by the first story, in which a wandering hiker in the 1960s meets Paul Bunyan (yes, and his blue ox Babe), and the two of them have whatever kind of sex two men of vastly different sizes can have. And then they meet again 30 years later.

The title essay is, indeed, about his lung cancer (among other things), and it is honest, sanguine, and surprising. Michael was a physician, and his first reaction to seeing images of his tumor was how beautiful it was. I say wow!

I enjoyed the other stories, and loved the Terry Bisson interview. Blumlein and Bisson were friends, and it shows. The interview ends with a real surprise to me: Blumlein, it turns out, was a cross-dresser whose wife came to be comfortable with this preference, and reading about it was fascinating.

A lovely view into a doctor, writer, patient, aging 60s radical, and cross-dresser.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not previously aware of Blumlein or their work; having read this, I'm not going to be seeking any of it out. I read it because it is one of the 'Outspoken Authors' collection that I am working through, and my previous experiences with the series have been positive.

It opens with Paul and Mea depressing cross between a coming of age story and a tall tale with an overwhelmingly self-centred young man as narrator. Although the story follows the narrator into middle age, and the cryptid (the titular 'Paul') further, it didn't get any better.

The second piece might be fiction, might not be. It may also be the best piece in the collection, as it is the only one I finished without gritting my teeth to do so. It is also mercifully short. Piece three is a rambling essay about science, Thoreau, cancer, mortality, and probably something important I've missed, because I skimmed about half of it. Number four is the short story Fidelity which is not SF, but part of that modern literary genre that involves unhappy relationships and emotional, if not physical, infidelity.

I failed to read the last story; it starts with a literary conceit that I found unreadable, and even skipping over that and trying further on gave me nothing. I tried reading the interview with the author, and again, I just couldn't. I have no idea who I would recommend this to, it was just dire.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre barely science or speculative fiction. Considering this series is suppose to be pushing some radical politics, I’m increasingly disappointed the more of them I read. Nothing offensive saves it from a 1 star rating.

[David H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This special collection from the Outspoken Authors series has one novelette, three short stories, one essay, and an interview with the author.

The highlights of this book were "Paul and Me" (about a man's encounters with Paul Bunyan over the years, with a twist) and "Know How, Can Do" (about a worm connected to a human brain), though I wasn't terribly enthused by them. "Y(ou)r Q(ua)ntifi(e)d S(el)f" and "Fidelity" were alternately unexciting or involved infidelity (or thoughts of) which doesn't interest me at all.

The essay, "Thoreau's Microscope," had Blumlein musing about Henry David Thoreau and microscopes, but in the second half it was hard to read, as he talked about his lung cancer. I looked it up later, and he died last year at the same age as my dad had this year. This was a hard piece to get through (it's only been 4.5 months for me). The interview with Terry Bisson was interesting enough.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these little PM Press booklets. They usually include a few short stories or essays, an interview with the author by the incomparable Terry Bisson, and a bibliography. Neat! They often give an insight to the author you don't get elsewhere. The title essay ponders Thoreau's compulsive examination of everything in his writing, except his own failing health from tuberculosis. This is contrasted with the author's diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

Blumlein is a medical doctor, and many of his stories revolve around biology; the best example in this volume is the last story, which is about a roundworm that is uplifted to human sentience. It's funny but contemplative, not unlike "Flowers for Algernon".

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of short pieces by a medical doctor and science fiction author. The title piece is definitely the strongest, an essay in which the author discusses Thoreau's philosophy of science while contemplating his own mortality and battle with lung cancer. The stories focus on the idea of what it means to be alive and what defines that. The book concludes with an interview by fellow science fiction author Terry Bisson. A good introduction to a smart author whose background only strengthens his authority.

[Camille McCarthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read anything else by Michael Blumlein. The stories in this book were imaginative but very short and not developed enough for me to really relate to the characters or the themes. They made me think of things in a new way but as stories they weren't very effective. I would like to read longer works by this author since I feel like this collection wasn't a great representation - it seemed like these were all ideas he threw together for a short book that didn't take a lot of time. Even though I didn't like it, I would say it was intriguing enough to make me want to read more.

[Tomasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing my travels through this series, one splendid volume (with the Gary Philips-shaped dip) after another. Blumlein is a helluva writer, passionate and compassionate, his texts here are top-notch, whether essays or short stories, sfnal or no. Pure reading pleasure.

[Frederick Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very droll, introspective look at life, death, climbing a mountain and cross dressing. The author has a lush relationship with language and this is a joy to read.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, insightful, and fast-paced fiction and nonfiction.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't even heard of Mr. Blumlein before I read this. He was good (died in 2019, of the lung cancer he writes about in the title essay). Not sure how I missed him.