Wildsmith

by Ron Goulart

Considered by many to be Goulart's best, this is the tale of a renegade robot with delusions of grandeur and his exasperated owner—who becomes the android's PR agent.

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Pseudonyms: 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).

Reviews

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was turned onto Goulart by my friend John Sheehan - who gave me a collection of Goulart's books. As such, I'll forever associate Goulart w/ John - & I can appreciate how their 2 peculiarities coincide. John also exposed me to 2 inventions of his own: balloon fishing & slow-bowling - but that's a story for elsewhere.

I'll probably never read anything by Goulart that I'll be able to bring myself to give more than a 3 star rating too. "Liked it" sums my response. Goulart's too much of a gimmick writer - nothing that I've read by him tries to accomplish anything beyond short books w/ recurring themes & style. NONETHELESS, I've enjoyed them all! A few obvious pseudo-critical clichés come to mind: "guilty pleasure", "book to read at the beach while on vacation", "escape fiction"..

&.. yet.. somehow I think he deserves more credit than that. His gimmick, in most, or all, of the 28 books I've read by him, is dysfunctional technology &/or technology imbued w/ human failings - elevators w/ limited artificial intelligence that have opinions about the people who ride in them, robots as racist as their inventors, shoe dispensers that don't pop out matching shoes.. that sort of thing. AND there's more to it than that. His books are satires, somewhat outspoken about sex, race, revolution..

Take "Wildsmith": an android secretly built by a publishing company to crank out best-sellers - & very successful at that. BUT, in order for the android to have the appropriate personality it's had quirks built into it - like apparent alcoholic behavior. Since the public isn't supposed to know that Wildsmith's an android, all the aberrant behavior has to be kept in check enuf by his PR man to keep this a secret - wch means preventing Wildsmith from unscrewing his hands in public & such-like.

This being not only a satire of the publishing industry but also of the political atmosphere of the time there's an apparent parody of Al Capp & his "Li'l Abner" cartoon - in this case as Joe Chuck, creator of "Tiny Boob the Hillbilly Midget". In Goulart's rendering, Chuck is a nasty stereotyping creep whose comic is banned in Mexico b/c Chuck expresses such sentiments as:

""These amusing greaseballs come from a distant planet and they landed right in Tiny Boob's hillbilly home town of Hogwallow. They resemble wax basketballs and have amusing little legs and wear sombreros. They've come to our poor, plundered portion of this planet because they've heard you can get a handout quicker here than anyplace else in the universe. If there's one prick things these greaseballs hate, it is working for a living.""

NOW, that's somewhat the way I remember Capp as being - so imagine my surprise when I skimmed thru his Wikipedia bio & found naught but praise for the guy. It's even claimed there that John Steinbeck (who I have deep respect for) "called Capp "the best writer in the world" in 1953, and even earnestly recommended him for the Nobel Prize in literature"! AND Marshall McLuhan (who I'm beginning to think was a bit of an idiot) was reputed to be a fan. Contrast that to the footage of Capp's hostility to John Lennon & Yoko Ono as presented in Paul McGrath's movie "John & Yoko's Year of Peace".

At any rate, Goulart's satire seems just as pungent & pointed as, eg, Terry Southern's "Candy" - but "Candy" was made into a movie w/ prominent stars & I don't know of any Goulart movies (wch doesn't mean that they don't exist - eg, he's somehow connected w/ "Battlestar Galactica"). In fact, "Wildsmith" is somewhat reminiscent of Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose" - but 13 yrs earlier - & w/ the Sci-Fi touches lacking in Allen's story. Funny, I often feel the same way about Allen's movies as I do about Goulart's books - they're clever but gimmicky - & they usually don't go far enuf.

STILL, I recommend Goulart - it only takes a few hrs to read one of these so it's easy enuf to whiz thru one - & if you don't get anything out of it there's no great waste of time. Besides, he seems worthy of recognition as a precursor to Jonathan Lethem, eg, & as a prominent figure in the shaping of the fusion of detective & science fiction. For me, the dysfunctional technology is enuf of a hoot to make it worthwhile - given that tech-heads often act like technology is some sort of perfect savior - rather than just another product of imperfect humans.

I note that Goulart has a series (?) of books w/ Groucho Marx as a "Master Detective" that I've never seen. That seems like perfect grist for Goulart's mill.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe don't answer your pixphone if you have a raging boner. Also, how frustrating is it when you don't get matching shoes from your shoe locker dispenser. Wildsmith is an android, specially programmed with traits of writers. Raging alcoholic, impulsive. His books are bestsellers. Wildsmith is under stress and mailing his hands to female admirers. Wildsmith is doing a national book promotion. His PA is having trouble keeping him out of trouble. Wildsmith is borrowing a Bugatti and driving 102 mph. He is pinching ladies behinds. His is trying to sleep with a siamese twin. The US are developing chemical biological weapons at University of California and going to test them in Brazil. Agents have put a bomb in Wildsmith. Another zany Ron book. Not as good as the Odd Job. Inc series.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, early novel from Goulart. It's one of his funniest, and is less formulaic than much of his later work. It does have the sexist attitudes of 1972, but is a spirited, slick, and very light-hearted story. It's a caper novel featuring an identity-challenged robot, and his human assistant who's trying to keep him in line, his identity secret, and out of trouble on a press tour. Things, of course, don't go as planned...

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

dragging pace - not very exciting

[Darren Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Goulart fare here. An abrupt ending was a bit of a let down. If you are used to it, it won’t bother you; but, the ending is abrupt like Dr Patchwork.

[Bhakta Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the sillier premises for a science fiction novel. Wildsmith is the best selling author of a book described as one of the filthiest historical novels ever written, as well as one of the best researched. Unfortunately, he's a robot, a fact that must be kept from his readers at all costs. Even more unfortunately, he has been programmed with every eccentricity of every great author. This means that he sometimes feels compelled to mail his hands to his female admirers, or rant about growing up in Hannibal, Missouri, or about being on safari in Africa.

The protagonist has to take Wildsmith on a public relations tour, in a future world that is even more dysfunctional than the one we live in. Along the way he meets and is attracted to the PR flack and lover of another eccentric author, this one human. Hilarity ensues.

The premise is of course, ridiculous, but if you're willing to go along with it you'll enjoy a very funny story.