Overlay

by Barry N. Malzberg

1st NEL 1975 edition 1st printing paperback, vg++ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Barry Nathaniel Malzberg was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.

He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overlay is an interesting book and can be seen as a companion piece or perhaps alternate, science-fictional version of Underlay, which was published a year or two later. Both deal with horse racing, but this one deals with alien invasion (or at least intervention), while the other is preoccupied with sex. Underlay is a dark comic novel about horse racing and obsession and depression, not a science fiction story. It was first published in 1974, and much of the humor (and many of the comments) is(are) no longer socially acceptable, which is also true of Overlay. Underlay is divided into forty-nine chapters, many of them with long titles that almost tell a story when read in sequence, but Overlay has two dozen untitled chapters. Both feature Malzberg at his desperate and depressed best. I enjoyed the read, though they're not my favorite of his works, and definitely not for everyone. I did learn more about horse racing than I ever thought I would until Dick Francis... This one has a very nice Ron Walotsky cover.

[Marius]

There is no way I can finish this boring book. I can hardly believe that this is SF. Nothing is happening, only monologue and full of horse race betting. I'm out.

[Jack (Sci-Fi Finds) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took this book away with me for the weekend because I didn't have room in my backpack for the other two enormous tomes that I'm reading. It tells the story of an alien being sent to Earth to nudge humanity off of its developmental course, as they've been deemed to be too irrational and dangerous to join the intergalactic society at large. The method they settle on is to infiltrate the minds of several gambling addicts who compulsively bet on horse racing. The agent chooses these individuals since their degenerate minds are the easiest to manipulate, allowing him to feed their instilled irrationality and propensity to succumb to mysticism. The alien communicates with these individuals on a metaphysical level, implanting suggestions and ideas to essentially break their already waning spirit.

This is an extremely unusual novel, written with a darkly comic and cynical voice that made me laugh quite a few times. The alien narrator finds himself being drawn into the lives of these individuals, occasionally showcasing signs that their mentality has leeched into his own. I think that this is a highly unique work and a great achievement that isn't always a great read due to the amount of detail about horse racing. I would struggle to recommend it to many readers, although it's challenging in a very satisfying way if you're willing to pick away at the density.

[Unai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obra maestra absoluta. Me ha encantado. El fin de la humanidad orquestado por la comunidad alienígena por nuestro peligro futuro y nuestro escaso valor en la lucha contra la entropía, utilizando a los ludópatas de carreras de caballos y el alienigena funcionario protagonista encargado de la tarea, liandola parda.

[ExtraGravy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing happened, pages of monologue on horse racing. The alien mind did not feel alien at all. Petty thoughts and scams of petty people. No plot. No likable characters. Nothing to look forward to... DNF

[Gary Vassallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book. I had no idea what to expect but really enjoyed it. Keen to read more Malzberg.

[Ratko Radunović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herovit’s World (1973) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Underlay (1974) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Galaxies (1975) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Overlay (1972)


* Četiri koliko-toliko reprezentativna i u potpunosti distinktivna romana iz Malzbergovog opusa.
* U vezi naslova Herovit’s World na raspolaganju će biti vidno skraćena verzija recenzije Harlana Elisona, objavljena u časopisu Fantasy and Science Fiction (maj, 1974).
* Poslije kratkih recenzija i Elisonovog uvida, slijedi kratki info-dump o autoru.


Overlay, ukratko.
Galaktička konfederacija ima ozbiljnih problema sa Zemljom i zato odlučuje da uništi našu opasnu malu planetu, ali i da se mnogo ne napreže oko toga. U tu svrhu, onim što je danas u mističnim krugovima poznato kao “remote viewing”, vanzemaljci šalju umove koji zaposijedaju provjereno najzaostaliju i najočajniju i, samim tim, najpovodljiviju i najsugestivniju skupinu ljudi otkako je ljudske civilizacije: kladioničare na trke konja.

Ti pseudoparazitski umovi postaju drugi glas u svijesti pomenutih kockara i polako navode domaćina da radi ono što najmanje želi (prije svega da uništi svoj život), ne bi li na kraju svi kockari skupa izazvali apokalipsu na Zemlji.

Ono što slijedi je Malzbergov vjerovatno najličniji i najautobiografskiji tekst jer bih se kladio da ne postoji riserč koji može dovesti do ovako intimnog znanja logistike klađenja i takve vrste života. To jest, sve do romana Underlay.

Na drugoj strani, jedino što čitaoci mogu da rade je da čitaju o četiri zaludna lika koji se doslovno raspadaju od izluđujućeg čemera života odvajkada okupiranog adikcijom, gdje zamamno loša odluka gotovo odmah slijedi onu prethodnu. Najbolje od svega, rijetko je jasno da li čitamo tragediju ili komediju.

Tu se postavlja neizbježno pitanje. Da li je, prema svim parametrima žanra, ovo SF, kao što je, primjera radi, to Malzbergov roman iz 1973, In the Enclosure, u kome vanzemaljci dolaze na zemlju da bi bili odmah bili bačeni u dobro pokrivene konc-logore dok ljudski tamničari ne iscijede sve što mogu iz njih? Nije. Ali se makar pominju vanzemaljci.

Fun fact: Richard E. Geis, prominentni i mnogo nagrađivani američki urednik brojnih SF fanzina, ako je vjerovati Malzbergu u kolumni objavljenoj u posljednjoj zbirci tekstova iz 2018, volio je roman Overlay.

“Lagan, duhovit i vrlo prijatan”, napisao je o njemu.

Zatim je podsjetio Malzberga da bi više trebao da se bavi komedijom.

*****

MALZB (trolopijanski mini-esej)

MALZBERG, BARRY N(ATHANIEL) [1939-2024], američki pisac, vjerovatno najliterarnija i apsolutno najkontroverznija ličnost u SF žanru tokom 1970-ih. Mejnstrim pisac koji je doslovno zalutao u žanr, gdje je našao da je taj milje daleko lukrativniji i dostupniji.
–The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988), ed. James Gunn

Za one koji očekuju eskapizam urolan u oblandu hard SF fazona, Malzberg će garantovano biti neprohodan; nepristupačan. Menjstrim autor zaglavljen u žanru, odvajkada je bio unesrećen onim što je postigao, ili nije postigao, u spisateljskoj karijeri i do samoga kraja sebi nije uskratio tu slobodu da bude cinik.

Obrni-okreni, u pitanju je jedan od najliterarnijih pisaca SF-a u prvoj polovini 70-ih, doslovno u rangu Balarda, Elisona i Diša, a po inventivnosti i Dika, Prista i Sladeka.

No, tu i tamo, katkada bi do čovjeka doprli sunčevi zraci.

U nekom intervjuu izjavio je da mu je najžalije što je istinu o kvalitetu 14 svojih krimića o “Lone Wolf” osvetniku napisanih za godinu i po dana, i objavljenih pod pseudonimom “Mike Barry” saznao tek 40-ak godina kasnije, kad su nanovo objavljeni u kući Stark House Press. Tada je, po svemu sudeći, morao ponovo da ih pročita i aminuje tekstove, možda da ispravi grešku-dvije?...

Apropo toga, Malzberg je bio poznat po tome što je izdavaču na prelom obično slao prve draftove, iz jednostavnog razloga što nije imao vremena za finese.

Naročito pisci znaju koliko ovakva konstatacija velikoj većini njih zvuči gotovo bezumno. Prvi draft bi trebalo da bude samo uvod u ili postavka za daleko bolji tekst, zar ne? Ali ne i za Malzberga i tu vrstu “tezgaroša” iz 60-ih i 70-ih.

Elem, ono što je pročitao od svojih krimića, prilično mu se dopalo, uprkos anksioznom načinu na koji su nastajali, gotovo jedan preko drugog.

U dobu kad ih je pisao, mislio je da štancuje grozne i doslovno nečitljive stvari.

Malzberg, ukratko.
Već je na početku karijere dosegao momentum, izjavivši da je apsolutno znao šta radi narednih sedam-osam godina, počev od 1968, dok je pisao kao čovjek pozajmljen iz nekog drevnog mita.

Prethodno je htio postati Mejler – zvijezda vodilja – možda Filip Rot; htio je da dobije Nobela za fikciju (za razliku od pomenute dvojke), ali sve što je ispalo od tolike nakupljene ambicije bilo je da je prilično brzo razjasnio sebi da od planirane karijere mejnstrim pisca neće biti ništa.
Otkud Malzberg u SF-u?

Radio je u spisateljskoj agenciji “Skot Meredit” (za 90 dolara sedmično) koja je predstavljala žanrovske pisce, pa je imao uvid u ono što se prodavalo i motalo po komercijalnom tržištu. Njegov posao je bio da preporučuje tekstove za koje je mislio da posjeduju potencijal. Poređenja radi, za pripovijetku koju je prodao časopisu Fantasy and Science Fiction, “Closed Sicilian” (2600 riječi), dobio je 80 dolara.

Nekoliko godina kasnije je za 4 dana istu priču preradio u roman od 55,000 riječi, The Tactics of Conquest, i za taj napor je zaradio 4,000 dolara.

Najveći avans koji je dobio u karijeri.

Momentum, ukratko.
Između 1968. i 1975, vodeći se striktno prema kvantitetu, imao je unikatnu karijeru. Pisao je sve iz čega je mogao izmusti novac: filmske novelizacije, pornografiju, krimiće, SF…

Za tih sedam godina, napisao je 25 SF romana i oko 200 pripovijetki.

Tokom perioda 1973-74. napisao je 16 romana (većinom pomenute “Lone Wolf” krimiće, imitacije Pendltonovog akcionog fenomena sa imenom Mek “Executioner” Bolan), 30 pripovijetki i jednu poemu. Za 14 “Lone Wolf” romana je Malzbergu dato 27,500 dolara; a samo za premisu serijala na pet strana mu je plaćeno gotovo 7,000. Već tada mu je karijera bila u silaznoj putanji. Ali je prihvatao svaki izazov.

1970. godine je napisao 14 romana; 1971. 6 romana; 1972. napisao je 9 romana. Raznih žanrova, naravno. Najtačniju bibliografiju ćete naći na posljednjim stranama reprinata izdavačke luće Stark House Press, kojoj se najviše može zamjeriti što nisu utilizovali veći font, međutim, lako je zaključiti da su njihova korisna izdanja od one jeftinije fele.

Svoju omiljenu priču, “Uncoupling”, Malzberg je napisao u subotu veče 14. januara ‘73. godine, između 20:15 i 20:50, dok je čekao da mu se supruga spremi za parti.

Priča ima 4,200 riječi i napisana je za 35 minuta (u “the best of” zbirci iz 1976. broji 13 stranica). Dok su izlazili iz kuće, imao je dovoljno vremena da kovertu sa “Uncoupling” ubaci u poštansko sanduče kojih je tada bilo na svakome ćošku.

Još više neispunjeniji nego na početku karijere… 1976. je rekao zbogom SF-u, pa je, i dalje u žanrovima, počeo pisati druge stvari u saradnji sa drugim autorima (Ket Kodžom, Bilom Pronzinijem, Majkom Reznikom).

Posljednji njegov SF roman mu je ujedno i najduži, Remaking of Sigmund Freud iz 1985.

Malzberg ima i tri knjige sasvim azdovoljavajuće nebeletristike, mahom recenzija, samorefleksivnih tekstova o književnosti i stanju žanra, i kritičkih osvrta: Engines of the Night (1982), Breakfast in the Ruins (2007) i Bend at the End of the Road (2018). Želja mu je oduvijek bila da ima svoju nonfict-zbirku poput Advertisements For Myself.

Odatle su preuzeti ovi podaci.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

s/o SF Ultra podcast

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may not be completely fair giving Malzberg's book only **. Maybe ** 1/2 is better.
This is the only book I know of that combines horse-racing and aliens. And Malzberg is an original-- but I'm not a big horse-racing fan and the use of the horse-racing jargon -which I did not understand--wore me down.
The only thing that kept me going was to see where this story was going. Without wantng to give away any SPOILERS, I'll say it was a big bomb at the end.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grabbed this over the weekend in a closing down bookshop sale for 50c based on the cover art.
Who knew that such a fortuitous convergence could occur?!
I am not a big punter but I'm a fan of the mythology of the track so this book really appealed to me. It often seems like the most modern times are when far out sub-genres appear but horse racing based science fiction has been added to the pantheon for a long while now. Definitely keen to explore more of Malzberg's work.

[Rock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alien mind-control bureaucrat is tasked with ensuring the downfall of humanity through manipulating a few down on their luck gambling addicts.

My second Malzberg, the first being 'Guernica Night', a rambling incoherent tale about nothing in particular that I hated by the second page and finished only out of sheer bloody-mindedness. Having finished the book, decided it was the worst thing I had ever read, and sworn off the author as a hack, I was perturbed to find a week later that a youtube book reviewer that I have come to respect was gushing praise over "Overlay" and decided second chances were in order.

Markedly better than G.N. in that it has a plot, albeit a bad one that could have been better executed in half the length, and most of the text is parsable into something resembling modern English.

However it's got all the same Malzberg faults, the long disjointed internal monologues, now doubled through alien mind reading, the padding for length; pages of assorted horse racing trivia, the bizarre approach to punctuation with entire paragraphs parenthesized and not a comma in sight. One is most starkly reminded that the author was squeezing out a work of genre-fiction a month when he admits via proxy that he was using lazy literary shorthand and that he couldn't be bothered to write proper dialog, before promptly laying down two back to back monologues (external and abridged for a change.)

The plot does manage to hold some interest in so far as you want to see how it is contrived to bring down humanity through some sort of racetrack incident with a rapidly diminishing number of pages to work with. Oh the foreshadowing! An important and historical race meet! The attendance of political dignitaries etc. etc. In the finish it just gets thrown away in a single line by a writer who clearly had no respect for your time or your intelligence.

[Trina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a sucker for old school 1970's science fiction - let us establish that fact right off the back. I seek the kind of science fiction where space is a little less known and people's imaginations run wild. I will seek this type of reading material under the tables at sci-fi conventions, old bookstores, and curated lots from my local discount bookstore - I heart old sci-fi.

From the mysterious cover to the brief synopsis on the back, I tell you I was hooked on Overlay. Ready for an alien invasion and triumph of the human race. I was disappointed on the very first page. Spoiler alert: this book is about horseracing - aliens invade the minds of various people at a horse track in order to blow up the race track. To what ends? Damned if I know and I read the entire book. Oh, and the mind invading alien isn't just any type of alien - he is a bureaucratic incompetent alien who in the end screws up his assignment.

I will give the book points for originality and Malzberg assumed in-depth knowledge of horseracing. Riddled with lengthy parentheticals to demonstrate the alien's musings within the character's minds required me to double back to just to get the point of the sentence. Oh and it was a short book which is something.

Theodore Sturgeon writing in the Galaxy said it best {from the back of the book}, "Malzberg is a first-water, don't-give-a-damn writer. Nobody can or will tell him what to write." This book is a prime example.

[Jupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cmon y’all get with it! Malzberg is the real deal!

Another banger. How does he do it? An alien inhabits the mind of 4 horse bettors or “horseplayers” and finds them very fascinating, as he explains beautifully throughout the book. Their contradictions only make them more endearing and interesting to him, no matter how insane we might find them to be. The precise way that Malzberg portrays these people through this outside, unbiased perspective is so fun to read and brings a humanity to them that feels totally unique. This book is incredibly funny but it is definitely not a joke. Malzberg is so good at framing things in just the right way to say whatever he wants to say.

[Kevin Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second Malzberg after the Freud one. Really interesting setup, with decent execution. Malzberg conveys genuine insight into the psychology of horse gambling (perhaps from personal experience), but he consistently overrates his own intelligence, confusing intelligence for insight (a most "academic" shortcoming). This is especially apparent in the text's discussion of "closeted homosexuality" and its supposed connections to horse gambling, the high-theory discussion of "ontogeny and phylogeny" doing little besides gilding commonplace cynicisms.

[Camina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's excellent. A brutal vivisection of the gambling addicts psyche. It's cynical, it's raw, it's real. It makes most modern science fiction seem shallow and devoid of any essence, mostly because it is.

An alien is tasked with infiltrating the minds of horse gambling addicts with the purpose of manipulating them to wreak havok and destruction in the world.


--------- Spoiler ‐‐------------‐---

He succeeds.

[John Lane]

Smartly written

Only Barry N. Malzburg can take such a mundane subject, like horseracing, and turn it into a plan by aliens to destroy Earth. There are some tinges of sadness in discussing some of the damage that horsebetting does to others.

[Zhermen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a four stars.

"Every loss a gain, every injury a thrust, every disaster an epiphany. Conservation of resources. The battle against entropy. Holding against the void."

An interesting work - deeply human, introspective, and, in a way, depressing.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

throbbing horse legs

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.99. Longest Malzberg I've read, enjoyed it but it didn't have the same impact as the previous 2 I've read so felt like I was getting less for more. The most interesting stuff was the sense of hopelessness of the characters lives and the whole entropy thing, had massive potential but kind of fizzled out. Still genuinely peeved about how the covers of these books straight up spoil what happens in the last 4 pages or are utterly misleading.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

Learned a lot about horse racing from this book