Customer Reviews

Age of the Pussyfoot

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I last read Age of the Pussyfoot in Bipohl in 1985, so I didn't "get" it. While cleaning out the attic, found it again and read it. Flash forward to 2003: PDA's, pagers, cell phones, the Internet, DVD players and home theater, Designer Drugs, and senseless violence on the streets. I now "get" it, especially how a society that can, in theory, live forever may find unusual ways to vent off, like taking out a license for murder! What I still don't "get" is how Frederik Pohl could have imagined such a future in the early 60's, when this wasn't even in Science Fiction. Reading it again in 2003 gave me a creepy feeling and a new respect for Pohl

Fantastic future-based situations juxtaposed with down to Earth human problems, like paying bills and getting a job. Pohl follows a regular guy frozen and awakened in the distant future. Interesting financial problems ensue. The cost of living is about the same, except the standard of living is wilding inflated. Being broke is a longer drop, especially when people can duel and only the rich can afford the medical costs. Would-be cryoheads take heed.

The basic plot is that a man dies, is frozen for 500 years and is eventually revived to find... Contrary to the previous review, the joymaker (not joybringer) is an incidental part of the story, just a gadget that lets you communicate with the master computer (among other things). The real story is about the effect on society of a combination of affluence and "death reversal" technology (making them bold in some ways and wimps in other ways). It kept my attention, but was really odd.

One unusual part of the book is that it includes an afterward by the author to convince us of the soundness of his proposed future (the book was written in 1968). He justifies all kinds of details, including aliens, but leaves out any mention of what to me was the most ill-conceived part of the book, the future attitude towards murder.