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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Neat Premise & Details, but Weakish Trip, October 10, 2001
Sure to be compared to the Ray Bradbury classic, Fahrenheit 451, Bisson's satirical romp posits a future in which 20th century works of art (books, films, records, paintings, etc.) are being systematically deleted to make room for new artists. Hank Shapiro works for the Federal Bureau of Arts and Information as a "pick up artist," (kind of a repo man/IRS auditor) employed to make house calls to confiscate items that have been "deleted." The story follows what happens when he confiscates a Hank Williams record and has the urge to play it before destroying it (strictly against the rules). It seems his father, who abandoned him, named him after the singer, and Hank hopes to catch a glimpse of his father through the music, which he has never heard. This leads him to an illegal underground "Misdemeanor Cafe" where he tries to buy a record-player but ends up losing the record, and eventually on a surreal cross-country quest with a long-pregnant woman, his ailing dog, an amazingly resilient homing bug, and a dead clone Indian as companions. Oddly enough, once the road trip starts, the book starts to rapidly loose steam. Bisson has a knack for great little details like various futuristic drugs, including Half-Life, which allows the dead to speak (Hilariously, they tend to say things like, "Oh no! I'm dead aren't I? Tell me I'm not dead!"). Or the giant landfill being burrowed through by miners on a drug called "Dig" who retrieve old ephemera that gets sold in "flee" markets that straddle state borders. Vehicles generally run on a massive electrical grid, and Indian casino chips function as a currency franca. But even with these nifty details, the tripin which Hank is trying to recover the album, and the woman is trying to reunite with an old lovenever really goes anywhere interesting. Fortunately, every other chapter is a history of how the deletion system came into being, starting with terrorist acts against art and museums, and continuing with the support of the shadowy software giant "Mr. Bill" (Bill Gates, duh), and a celebrity trial. This history shows how the production of art has outpaced the world's ability to absorb it, placing new artists at a stifling competitive disadvantage. It's a kind of interesting satirical concept that Bisson riffs on rather well, but it can't completely conceal the tepidness of the road trip chapters.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Surreal journey into the furture of Art, May 24, 2001
Hank Shapiro is a pick up artist. He spends his days confiscating literature, music, art, and movies that have been scheduled to be deleted. Some clients are surly, others just want the money they get for turning items in, but Shaprio is always professional. Its a people job and he's a people person. The trouble starts one day when he picks for destruction up a Hank Williams record. He remembers that his father gave him the name Hank as he was a fan of this musician. He becomes obssessed with hearing the albumn and even goes as far as to visit a "Misdeamenor Cafe" where someone can hook him up with a black market record player. Shapiro finds himself on the run with a pregnant librarian called Henry, a dead clone named Indian Bob, and his dog Homer who is female. They travel ever west in search of Hank's stolen record. Full of interesting characters and also the history of this future world, the pick up artist is both entertaining and thought provoking. Its hard not to compare it to the classic "Fahrenheit 451," but the reasons for deletion are more complex. I highly reccomend this title.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wild Weird and Wacky, March 17, 2001
The Federal Bureau of Arts and Information provides a critical service for the people. They pick up, pay`and destroy art that has had its "place in the sun." The importance is to make room for new art because space is at a premium. Salinger and Miller are ancient history, and Shakespeare must have been off planet as the Alexandrians proud of that ancient fire rule the arts. BAI PICKUP ARTIST Hank Shapiro thinks nothing of seizing a Sinatra or a Monet for ultimate destruction. Hank is polite and professional as he goes about his job as the repo collector. However, Hank makes a colossal error when he collects a recording by his namesake, Hank Williams and cannot resist listening. When he loses the record, Hank is obsessed to regain it. He begins an odd odyssey across the country accompanied by his often-dead dog. They continually run into the Bob clones that seem everywhere and other assortment of weirdoes. THE PICKUP ARTIST is weird, amusing, and entertaining as if Fahrenheit 451 occurred in Eerie, Indiana. The story line is cleverly written engaging the audience with Hank's story and the history of the fire movement. Anyone who relishes a wonderful satirical science fiction at its most humorous yet quite insightful best will want to pick up award winning artist Terry Bisson's ironic look into the future. Harriet Klausner
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky, involving, strange look at next century America
Terry Bisson's new novel, _The Pickup Artist_, is an interesting, odd, novel that reminded me strongly of Jonathan Lethem, particularly, for some reason, _Amnesia Moon_.
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Published on September 21, 2001 by Richard R. Horton
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