What do you think?
Rate this book
Molly Dear: The Autobiography of an Android
The "autobiography" of the most notorious, troublesome, and spirited android of the twenty-first century tells of her travels from Hollywood to Mars, reveals the presence of a lunar mafia, and presents an endearing extra-terrestrial being
- GenresScience Fiction
420 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Fine
3 booksSteven Fine is a cultural historian specializing in Judaism in the Greco-Roman world and serves as a professor at Yeshiva University. He holds degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Southern California, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Fine began his career in museum work and archaeological collections before holding academic positions at Baltimore Hebrew University and the University of Cincinnati. He joined Yeshiva University in 2005, where he directs the Center for Israel Studies and the Arch of Titus Project. Fine’s scholarship focuses on Jewish history, art, and cultural heritage, and he has led groundbreaking research on the Arch of Titus. He was also the founding editor of AJS Perspectives and remains an influential voice in Jewish historical studies.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 14, 2015
Molly Dear: The Autobiography of an Android, or How I Came to My Senses, Was Repaired, Escaped My Master, and Was Educated in the Ways of the World.
5 stars
Summary: Long name—great book, if you’re a fan of the genre.
Sadly, this appears to be the only book by Stephen Fine, who otherwise seems to be known as a playwright. Sad, because he has written a very complete novel with a serious, yet very tongue-in-cheek manner, that expertly skewers our current culture and occasionally breaks the Fourth Wall with the reader in perfectly timed asides. Quite an accomplishment for a book published in 1988—nearly 3 decades ago.
The android known as Molly Dear, among many other names she would have at one time or another, came on-line at midnight of November 15, 2069. She is a P9 model, the most advanced androids yet built, and was sold by the Pirouet Corporation. Her designed lifetime was precisely 20 years, at which point she would off-line permanently. Her construction was that she was grown as a vegaspore equivalent of a human female and indistinguishable to the eye from an adult woman. Instead of blood, sap runs in her veins, and if unrestrained, she was quicker and stronger than her human masters. She was programmed with data pills and controlled by a gov (governor) to ensure her complete obedience. This was felt necessary since her own mind was as capable as any human if unrestrained. Molly was an immensely expensive and sophisticated achievement of science and industry, whose designated role was to be that of a lowly domestic servant. This is her story as told by the droid herself.
First is a point that cannot be ignored, so is best gotten out of the way immediately. There is a lot of sex in this novel in a rainbow of varied forms. These include male/female interspecies sex (human/android), master/servant coerced sex, homosexual sex (both M/M and F/F involving humans and androids), prostitution, pregnancy (androids can become pregnant), unknowing incest, and as Molly puts it, sex “in a manner decency does not permit mention.” You've been warned.
And yet this autobiography is not an erotic novel. Its sex is an inescapable part of the account because Molly is a very sexual being, having been a fully adult woman from the moment of her activation. If you’re looking for erotic SF, this book will only serve that purpose if you have a well-developed imagination to fill in what is not laid out in the book, and can tolerate the long stretches of pure story between the salacious bits. It’s not that kind of book, but it’s still very sexy and one cannot pretend otherwise.
There’s also drug use (of future substances that make today’s chemical recreations look positively pedestrian by comparison) and state-sanctioned slavery (of androids), giving it a trifecta of warnings strong enough to leave one wondering how it ever got published back in the 1980s. Yet it was published, and a rip-roaring great time will be had by anyone willing to present their E-ticket and board this ride.
Molly Dear [long title skipped] is a very complete book. It covers all of the significant events of the 20 years of Molly’s life. In completely unexpected twists, turns, and mid-course corrections Molly’s life takes us through a rich tapestry of a future of flying cars, personal jetpacks, new fashions, new drugs, new ways to change your appearance, interplanetary travel, and of course, androids. A bright new future that inherits many of our same old problems of crime, terrorism, bigotry, and slavery—all of which is as sadly relevant today as it was when this book was published.
The book is a metaphor for a modern Galatea. It conflates our ability to build an ideal woman or man to serve all of our needs with our uneasy relationship of our slavery past. And it reminds us how far too often we continue to make the same mistakes time after time after time.
Molly’s life bounces between times where she’s completely goved (controlled) and unaware; aware, but tightly controlled by others; fully independent and needing to make a life of her own; in love; a mother; a whore; a trophy wife to a despised politician; an inspiration to others. There is no easy upwards path for our android woman as external forces buffet her in many directions when others try to control her to advance their own agendas. Like any life, Molly's sometimes appears to be one step forward, ten steps back. But it’s always an engaging read of wondering just what can possibly happen to her next.
Also engaging to the point of humorous, are the many cultural references that remain relevant and understandable today, as well as the wry, often self-deprecating manner of our new favorite android as she narrates her “life” for posterity’s sake as she sees it. How all of these astonishing things really did happen to her in often completely mundane ways, and the many misconceptions about her life that she longs to dispel before her final termination. Molly is a compelling and sympathetic character worth learning about on the hope that someday we may have companions like her to share our world with. She becomes someone that you’d like to meet in person and live with in her world for a while. In this long, and ultimately fulfilling, novel you have that opportunity.
Note: To read this book you’ll need to find a used hardcover copy, which are available to at least a few lucky purchasers still. At least one is being offered on Amazon for 4¢ as of this writing.
5 stars
Summary: Long name—great book, if you’re a fan of the genre.
Sadly, this appears to be the only book by Stephen Fine, who otherwise seems to be known as a playwright. Sad, because he has written a very complete novel with a serious, yet very tongue-in-cheek manner, that expertly skewers our current culture and occasionally breaks the Fourth Wall with the reader in perfectly timed asides. Quite an accomplishment for a book published in 1988—nearly 3 decades ago.
The android known as Molly Dear, among many other names she would have at one time or another, came on-line at midnight of November 15, 2069. She is a P9 model, the most advanced androids yet built, and was sold by the Pirouet Corporation. Her designed lifetime was precisely 20 years, at which point she would off-line permanently. Her construction was that she was grown as a vegaspore equivalent of a human female and indistinguishable to the eye from an adult woman. Instead of blood, sap runs in her veins, and if unrestrained, she was quicker and stronger than her human masters. She was programmed with data pills and controlled by a gov (governor) to ensure her complete obedience. This was felt necessary since her own mind was as capable as any human if unrestrained. Molly was an immensely expensive and sophisticated achievement of science and industry, whose designated role was to be that of a lowly domestic servant. This is her story as told by the droid herself.
First is a point that cannot be ignored, so is best gotten out of the way immediately. There is a lot of sex in this novel in a rainbow of varied forms. These include male/female interspecies sex (human/android), master/servant coerced sex, homosexual sex (both M/M and F/F involving humans and androids), prostitution, pregnancy (androids can become pregnant), unknowing incest, and as Molly puts it, sex “in a manner decency does not permit mention.” You've been warned.
And yet this autobiography is not an erotic novel. Its sex is an inescapable part of the account because Molly is a very sexual being, having been a fully adult woman from the moment of her activation. If you’re looking for erotic SF, this book will only serve that purpose if you have a well-developed imagination to fill in what is not laid out in the book, and can tolerate the long stretches of pure story between the salacious bits. It’s not that kind of book, but it’s still very sexy and one cannot pretend otherwise.
There’s also drug use (of future substances that make today’s chemical recreations look positively pedestrian by comparison) and state-sanctioned slavery (of androids), giving it a trifecta of warnings strong enough to leave one wondering how it ever got published back in the 1980s. Yet it was published, and a rip-roaring great time will be had by anyone willing to present their E-ticket and board this ride.
Molly Dear [long title skipped] is a very complete book. It covers all of the significant events of the 20 years of Molly’s life. In completely unexpected twists, turns, and mid-course corrections Molly’s life takes us through a rich tapestry of a future of flying cars, personal jetpacks, new fashions, new drugs, new ways to change your appearance, interplanetary travel, and of course, androids. A bright new future that inherits many of our same old problems of crime, terrorism, bigotry, and slavery—all of which is as sadly relevant today as it was when this book was published.
The book is a metaphor for a modern Galatea. It conflates our ability to build an ideal woman or man to serve all of our needs with our uneasy relationship of our slavery past. And it reminds us how far too often we continue to make the same mistakes time after time after time.
Molly’s life bounces between times where she’s completely goved (controlled) and unaware; aware, but tightly controlled by others; fully independent and needing to make a life of her own; in love; a mother; a whore; a trophy wife to a despised politician; an inspiration to others. There is no easy upwards path for our android woman as external forces buffet her in many directions when others try to control her to advance their own agendas. Like any life, Molly's sometimes appears to be one step forward, ten steps back. But it’s always an engaging read of wondering just what can possibly happen to her next.
Also engaging to the point of humorous, are the many cultural references that remain relevant and understandable today, as well as the wry, often self-deprecating manner of our new favorite android as she narrates her “life” for posterity’s sake as she sees it. How all of these astonishing things really did happen to her in often completely mundane ways, and the many misconceptions about her life that she longs to dispel before her final termination. Molly is a compelling and sympathetic character worth learning about on the hope that someday we may have companions like her to share our world with. She becomes someone that you’d like to meet in person and live with in her world for a while. In this long, and ultimately fulfilling, novel you have that opportunity.
Note: To read this book you’ll need to find a used hardcover copy, which are available to at least a few lucky purchasers still. At least one is being offered on Amazon for 4¢ as of this writing.
August 1, 2021
Do you like the game Detroit: Becoming Human? Do you like space mafias, wacky interplanetary hijinks, and increasingly ridiculous scandals? Then boy do I have the novel for you! Meet Molly Dear where you better pay attention because there is no chill and every character is a Chekov's Gun! Sarcastic and intense in equal measures, it's a pretty wild ride and don't worry, Molly is just as much an unwilling participant as you are. (I jest, if you're reading the book and enjoying it you're definitely more willing than our reluctant hero).
A word of warning: the narrator is duped early on in the book into sex work, which sets the tone for the narrative: it does not shy away from sex. No scene is particularly graphic but there is definitely unwilling and dubious sex involved.
A word of warning: the narrator is duped early on in the book into sex work, which sets the tone for the narrative: it does not shy away from sex. No scene is particularly graphic but there is definitely unwilling and dubious sex involved.
March 22, 2017
read this many years ago (decades...) and only now realized i had not put it on here! i did really enjoy it even though i have never read/studied 'moll flanders', cannot give it a five as i do not remember it too well, but it is comic, satirical, fantastic science fiction, narrated by title android...
April 20, 2015
With such a descriptive long title, one might think that this book would delve into the questions regarding humanity, artificial intelligence, or other futuristic philosophical conundrums. Nope, the book is an excuse for robot sex. From the start the situations crib very heavily from black slavery with little subtlety or imagination. After self-aware android servant Molly makes a daring escape from certain destruction, what new life of freedom will this strong, smart (she's an android, must be smart) sentient being forge for herself? Author says: Prostitution! Seriously? Through the ups and downs of Molly's life, in hindsight her escort days were the highlight (Ew, why are you glorifying the sex trade?). Molly is a perpetually passive actor throughout her own life, and things become ridiculous after multiple re-programmings (brainwashing). Way too much sex, way too much passivity, not nearly enough substance.
May 1, 2023
Many of the books I've given 1 star reviews are satire. It's not that I hate satire, it's that most of it is poorly done, lacks nuance, and comes of as idiotic. But not this 400+ pager based on classic works like Moll Flanders and Candide.
The term "android" has several different meanings. I think of a robot that looks like a human, but in 70s and 80s lit, it usually refers to a human-like being, sometimes partially robotic, but with an organic basis. These androids are that sort: grown from fungal spores with sap for blood; programmable but organic; capable of reproduction but fully adult in two years; needing nutrition but having high thresholds for pain and puncture-proof skin; acquiring knowledge through swallowing upgrade capsules but able to communicate mentally with a master computer. They are human enough in thought and feeling, but different enough to allow humans to feel superior. A story from the perspective of such a character provides a set-up with endless possibilities.
No broad societal or psychological topic escapes attention. Moral ambiguity; the burden of consciousness; slippery realities; the master/slave nature of human society; the full and corrupt control companies/politicans hold over people's lives; dissociative behavior; fear-mongering; victim blaming; narrative corruption; lying politicians who are the very thing they claim to hate; themes of servitude and slavery, with human rights and animal abuse parallels. Hypocrisy, corruption, and exploitation are the most consistent themes, with every character exhibiting them in some form.
It's a head-spinning rollercoaster chocked full of relevance, but all funneled through an absurdly kaleidoscopic SF filter, with a constant barrage of quirky world-building and bizarre ideas. The underlying colors of tragedy, abuse, and cruelty are coated in a veneer of glossy sardonic comedy. Some things are so absurdly horrible that the levity is necessary to keep it from being indigestable, melodramatic trauma porn.
This appears to be Stephen Fine's sole work.Though thorough and well-crafted, it slowly made me feel worse and worse. By the end, I was miserable, and I wanted to be done. Shaving off a hundred pages might have reduced the impact of such non-stop suffering.
The term "android" has several different meanings. I think of a robot that looks like a human, but in 70s and 80s lit, it usually refers to a human-like being, sometimes partially robotic, but with an organic basis. These androids are that sort: grown from fungal spores with sap for blood; programmable but organic; capable of reproduction but fully adult in two years; needing nutrition but having high thresholds for pain and puncture-proof skin; acquiring knowledge through swallowing upgrade capsules but able to communicate mentally with a master computer. They are human enough in thought and feeling, but different enough to allow humans to feel superior. A story from the perspective of such a character provides a set-up with endless possibilities.
No broad societal or psychological topic escapes attention. Moral ambiguity; the burden of consciousness; slippery realities; the master/slave nature of human society; the full and corrupt control companies/politicans hold over people's lives; dissociative behavior; fear-mongering; victim blaming; narrative corruption; lying politicians who are the very thing they claim to hate; themes of servitude and slavery, with human rights and animal abuse parallels. Hypocrisy, corruption, and exploitation are the most consistent themes, with every character exhibiting them in some form.
It's a head-spinning rollercoaster chocked full of relevance, but all funneled through an absurdly kaleidoscopic SF filter, with a constant barrage of quirky world-building and bizarre ideas. The underlying colors of tragedy, abuse, and cruelty are coated in a veneer of glossy sardonic comedy. Some things are so absurdly horrible that the levity is necessary to keep it from being indigestable, melodramatic trauma porn.
This appears to be Stephen Fine's sole work.Though thorough and well-crafted, it slowly made me feel worse and worse. By the end, I was miserable, and I wanted to be done. Shaving off a hundred pages might have reduced the impact of such non-stop suffering.
December 19, 2025
I only made it to page 157 before the disappointment was too much.
The book really explores the different ways androids would be oppressed and exploited well, which was the main reason I trudged along reading it. But for my tastes, the pacing was too quick and it focused way too much on sex stuff. The Oedipus shit (if you read this book, you know what I mean) was what broke the camel's back, I only continued a little while after this.
The book's cover is very cool though. Props to whoever drew that, I don't listen to sayings very well so I was the main reason I bought the book.
The book really explores the different ways androids would be oppressed and exploited well, which was the main reason I trudged along reading it. But for my tastes, the pacing was too quick and it focused way too much on sex stuff. The Oedipus shit (if you read this book, you know what I mean) was what broke the camel's back, I only continued a little while after this.
The book's cover is very cool though. Props to whoever drew that, I don't listen to sayings very well so I was the main reason I bought the book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews