Collection of Short Stories written from 1980 to 1982 including "The Far Side of the Bell-Shaped Curve," "The Pope of the Chimps," "The Changeling," "The Man Who Floated in Time," "The Palace at Midnight," "A Thousand Paces ALong the Via Dolorosa," "At the COnglomeroid Cocktail Party," "Our Lady of the Sauropods," "Gianni," "The Trouble with Sempoanga," "How They Pass the Time in Pelpel," "Waiting for the Earthquake," "Not Our Brother," "The Regulars", "Jennifer's Lover," "Needle in a Timestack"
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
16 Short Stories,
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This review is from: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party (Paperback)
It is somewhat disturbing that "The Half-Blood Prince" has 3,273 reviews (and counting) while a book by a serious SF author (snapping at their heels of the Big Three) has 0. Nothing against Harry Potter, but there is overkill and there is neglect."The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party" is a collection of 16 short stories (copyrights 1980 to 1984), covering the genres of fantasy, horror, mainstream, but mostly SF. As one would expect with Silverberg, the stories are extremely well written. Some of the highlights are: "The Pope of the Chimps". Coincidentally I have just watched a Jane Goodall interview in which she spoke about her belief that chimpanzees have a sense of "awe", which could lead to a primitive religion if only they had a sophisticated language. In this story it actually happens. "How they Pass the Time in Pelpel" is not SF or fantasy, it simply is a story about a strange event in a Mexican village. I think it surpasses the stories from "Tales of the Unexpected" by Roald Dahl. Silverberg seems to have a love for Mexico, which also comes across in "Not Our Brother", a horror piece which takes place during the `Day of the Dead' celebrations. "The Changeling" is a Twilight Zone like `switch between alternative universes' story, mostly set in Mexico (surprise!) Silverberg also seems to have an obsession with the problems of love and time-travel, investigating it in three of the stories. "Needle in a Timestack" considers what might happen if the ex-husband of your wife attempted to change the past so that he and she would never have separated. In "Jennifer's Lover" a husband faces a rival from the future. If after this you believe that the only person you can depend on is yourself, then think again - just read "The Far Side of the Bell-Shaped Curve". To conclude, this is a good collection, that anybody who likes short stories of the SF variety will enjoy, although I did not find all the stories equally entertaining, which is why I only give it 4 stars.
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