The Final Dream and Other Fictions [Paperback]

Daniel Pearlman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this literate science fiction collection, Pearlman comes up with some original ideas, although he tends to recycle each one several times. The weaker stories rely on shock. There is the shock of recognition (this-is-how-the-present-will-look-when-it-is-the-past): in ``Taking from the Top,'' the elderly are disposed of when they cease to have sufficient SV, or Social Value, points, and one grandfather tries to finish up his biography of the obscure poet Robert Frost; ``The Ground Under Man'' is vilified for proposing to bury his dead wife, considered an archaic practice. There is also the shock of tastelessness: a man has ``Another Brush with the Fuzz'' and is forced to wear a ``dick-and-asshole belt'' that will monitor his state of arousal, and ``What Rough Beast'' portrays some overheated bestiality. The more inventive stories create a new environment through detail, focusing on overpopulation and the legislation enacted to combat it. ``And Baby Makes Five'' portrays a mother trying to decide which of her newborn twins to have killed. In the lengthy title story, a dream maker is wreaking havoc by causing his customers nocturnal anxiety. There are some fun structural tricks too, particularly in ``A Mobius Trip,'' which cleverly doubles back on itself. These pieces, some of which originally appeared in such magazines as Synergy and Amazing Stories, are probably better read separately than as a collection.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Permeable Pr (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882633059
• ISBN-13: 978-1882633050
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,578,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My academic books include the well-known writing textbook GUIDE TO RAPID REVISION (now in its 8th edition) and a book of literary criticism, THE BARB OF TIME: ON THE CANTOS OF EZRA POUND (Oxford U. P.).

Beginning with the 1980s, however, my writing interests switched entirely to fiction.

As of January, 2012,I have published about sixty short stories and novellas, most of which have been collected in three volumes: THE FINAL DREAM & OTHER FICTIONS (Permeable, 1995); THE BEST-KNOWN MAN IN THE WORLD & OTHER MISFITS (Aardwolf, 2001); and A GIANT IN THE HOUSE & OTHER EXCESSES (Merry Blacksmith, 2011). My two novels to date are BLACK FLAMES (White Pine Press, 1997); and MEMINI (Prime/Wildside, 2003). Details at my homepage: ddpearlman.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars finest speculative fiction out there, December 6, 1995

By A Customer

This review is from: The Final Dream and Other Fictions (Paperback)

Review by Jeff VanderMeer
[e-mail]

THE FINAL DREAM AND OTHER
STORIES by Daniel Pearlman

268 pages/ Short Story Collection/ ISBN#1
882633-05-9 /Trade Paperback $14.95 list
price /Permeable Press 47 Noe Street #4 San
Francisco, CA 94114-1017

Daniel Pearlman writes science fiction stories in
which the ideas are often so interesting that
characters may seem secondary to his purpose. The
key word is "seem" because I hasten to add that
Pearlman's characters are rarely wooden, but, like
Stanislaus Lem, Pearlman's fictions build on a
foundation of crosshatching and cross-referenced
ideas; often, very whimsical and playful ideas.

The three best stories in The Final Dream--
"Taking From the Top," "Megabride," and
"A Moebius Trip"--demonstrate a dazzling
ability to play with the conceptions and
conventions of science fiction. In a better
world, these stories would have won or at
least been finalists for the Nebula Award.

"Taking From the Top," first published in
Synergy, concocts a future in which senior
citizens must gather "life points" by buying
them or earning them through community
service. If you need hospitalization and don't
have enough life points (no one is sure of
how many life points they have), the doctors
put you to sleep instead of operating on you.
The hero of the piece, John Cedars, a scholar
of Robert Frost, needs heart surgery, but isn't
sure he has enough life points. Without heart
surgery, he won't be able to finish his book on
Frost, excerpts from which are strategically
placed throughout the novella for maximum
thematic resonance. In Cedars quest to
determine his life point status, Pearlman gives
the reader a brilliantly satirical (and, frankly,
laugh-out-loud) scene in which a life points
adjuster tries to rate Cedars school of literary
theory against more current schools. Cedars
other life points come from community
service, such as cleaning up trash. At one
point, the adjuster tells him he needs "eighty-
seven pounds of litter, or thirty-seven pages
of the sort of literary criticism you've been
producing" to bring him up to ten "LP's." A
second remarkable scene occurs when Cedars
tries to buy life points off a woman through a
life points dealer. The pathos of this scene
contrasts starkly with the story's satirical
element; it is Pearlman's ability to balance
such disparate elements that makes "Taking
From the Top" such a marvelous work of
fiction.

"Megabride" features the detective
Merkouros and a case of apparent plagiarism.
Merkouros is a magnificent creation--a
dedicated, somewhat overzealous investigator
from another dimension who tracks criminals
from Earth to Earth. In less skilled hands, this
concept might have made for a cheesy 1950s
sci-fi piece, but Pearlman manages to create a
work of real daring and precision. The
experimental use of point-of-view, the
magnificent conundrum of ideas, and some
very playful misdirection, give "Megabride"
the beauty of a mathematical equation. "A
Moebius Trip," which also features
Merkouros, shares these qualities, although
"Megabride" is the more elegant story.

The title story "The Final Dream" postulates
a future in which, to avoid nightmares,
people plug in to dreams created by
dreamspinners. Then the dreams start turning
sour. The story is as ambitious as "Taking
From the Top," but the plot falters toward
the end as the reason behind the bad dreams
lacks the imaginativeness of Pearlman's other
fictions; in the absence of same, "The Final
Dream" provides solid entertainment. Other
stories of note include "The Defenders of the
Golden Tower," "The Ground Under Man,"
and "And Baby Makes Five." Stories such as
"The Heart of the Overchild" and "From
Here to Eternitape," however, seem clunky
by comparison, the satirical element
completely overwhelming character; they
also lack the playfulness evident in
Pearlman's other fiction.

The majority of stories in The Final Dream
work precisely because Pearlman's ideas are,
unlike those of so many science fiction
writers, firmly grounded in precise
observations about human society and the
human condition. When character and idea
are in balance, Pearlman's stories positively
shine; when this balance is upset, Pearlman's
stories seem heavy-handed and derivative.
Luckily, the delights of The Final Dream far
outweigh the few misfires. In addition,
Permeable Press must be commended for
producing such a fine-looking book with a
spectacular cover painting and design by Ellen
Alva Hales.