A For Anything [Import] [Unbound]

Damon Knight (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Rosettabooks LLC (August 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0795304226
• ISBN-13: 978-0795304224
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Strengths & weaknesses of 1959 SF: Great premise, Not-so-hot story, July 20, 2008

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A for Anything (Paperback)

Recently, I was motivated to reach for my copy of Damon Knight's 1959 novel, A for Anything, after I edited a computer magazine article about a (real) device called the RepRap, a "3D printer" which UK scientists claim can replicate all sorts of other objects. Including, to some degree, itself. The scientists were full of optimistic ideas for how the technology could be put to use... but I remembered this book, and was far more cynical.

There's two sections to the novel. In the first -- regrettably only 33 pages long -- the inventor of the "gizmo" (a device that can indeed replicate anything) anonymously has sent 100 pairs of gizmos to people all around southern California. As people realize that the devices can really duplicate anything, even people, idealists hide and the power hungry gather forces. Because power lies in the hands of those who own and control gizmos, and slavery is the fate of everyone else.

It's a great premise, but unfortunately Damon Knight was more interested in the long term effects than he was in that initial power struggle. Most of the book is dedicated to the coming-of-age journey of Dick Jones, the son of a Gizmo "Man" who grew up on what feels eerily like a southern plantation. He's sent off to Colorado as a latter day foster child, presumably to learn the paths of power.

That could be a decent story too, except that it isn't. Not all 1950s SF was golden, even when it was written by such an otherwise-impressive author. Sometimes, as is the case with A for Anything (what a lousy title...), the author is more interested in peering behind the curtains in his world than in telling a compelling story. The characters aren't particularly sympathetic (Dick Jones is an annoying boob), the story pacing is confusing, and the ending never worked for me. Instead, Knight is trying to answer his own "What if" questions, such as "If someone objected to the political system, what could he do about it?"

Yet, yet... note that I hadn't read this book in at least 20 years, but I remembered it *immediately* and with detail when I encountered that scientific report. So the premise has merit. It just wasn't one of Knight's better books. So it's a 5 for the idea, a 2 for story (those first 33 pages are great); average of three.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Particularly relevant for the present day, January 22, 2001

By 

Div Slomin (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A for Anything (Paperback)

This book explores the societal implications of free, pervasive, lossless duplication of matter. In short, author Knight proposes that human nature cannot handle such a technology in a responsible manner; instead the world plunges into anarchy, from which emerges a feudal society based around the slavery of expendible, replicated humans.

Today legislatures, corporations, and consumers alike are faced with the issue of free, pervasive, lossless duplication of intellectual property. The analogy is not perfect, but "A for Anything" provides a very useful viewpoint to help you make a decision about the issue. It's not half bad as a novel either.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Particularly relevant for the present day, January 22, 2001

By 

Div Slomin (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A for Anything (Paperback)

This book explores the societal implications of free, pervasive, lossless duplication of matter. In short, author Knight proposes that human nature cannot handle such a technology in a responsible manner; instead the world plunges into anarchy, from which emerges a feudal society based around the slavery of expendible, replicated humans.

Today legislatures, corporations, and consumers alike are faced with the decision of how to deal with the issue of free, pervasive, lossless duplication of "intellectual property". The analogy is not perfect, but "A for Anything" provides a very useful viewpoint to help you make a decision about the issue.