Russian Spring [Mass Market Paperback]

Norman Spinrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1992

Tired of his low-level job with the American space program, engineer Jerry Reed makes enemies of friends when he moves to Paris, where the EEC and the Soviet Union have joined to create a renaissance in space exploration. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the near future, the debt-laden U.S. owns a technology that renders it "the world's best-defended Third World country." The only real outer-space planning is in Common Europe, so young American "space cadet" Jerry Reed goes to work in Paris. He falls in love with and marries Soviet career bureaucrat Sonya Gagarin and the story jumps ahead 20 years, blending world events with a focus on their family. Sonya's star has risen with the Euro-Russians' while Jerry has been stymied by pervasive anti-Americanism. Daughter Franja has her father's space fever and enrolls in a Russian space school; son Bob, fiercely curious about an earlier, admired America before it was run by xenophobic "Gringos," enters Berkeley. Ten years later the U.S. is a pariah, Euro-Russia the pet of the civilized world and the Reeds scattered--politics forced Jerry and Sonya's divorce, Franja speaks only to her mother and Bob is trapped in "Festung Amerika." A series of odd, occasionally tragic events brings the family (and the world) together. Despite some tech-talk this is not science fiction: the first two-thirds of this hefty book is chillingly logical, if sometimes very funny, and while the "happy" ending may seem forced, Spinrad ( Bug Jack Barron ) gives us a wild, exhilarating ride into the next century.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

As the American dream of space explorations devolves into the nightmare of orbiting nuclear defense shields, aerospace engineer Jerry Reed casts his lot with the Europeans to preserve his own commitment to his country's abandoned ideals. Shifting international alliances, however, spell disaster for an increasingly isolationist United States, and the fortunes of Reed and his family (a Russian wife and two culture-torn children) fall prey to "politicians' politics." Spinrad's latest novel is a chronicle both of the 21st century and of one man's burning passion. As in Little Heroes ( LJ 6/15/87), the author focuses on his characters, who are compelling in their weaknesses as well as their strengths and admirable in their persistence in the face of undeserved tribulation. Inspirational without becoming didactic, wise without becoming arch, this novel stands in a class by itself. A priority purchase.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Spectra (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553298690
• ISBN-13: 978-0553298697
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,713,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Norman Spinrad Bio


Reviews of HE WALKED AMONG US

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us - Horror Drive-In

Norman Spinrad's He Walked Among Us






I'm always getting up here and urging you to buy this book, or to go see that movie. Buy a DVD or try a new author. I do it because I'm passionate about this stuff. And I swear to you that, regardless of whether you end up agreeing with me, I am always 100% honest about them.


Coming out on March 30th is what I consider to be the book of the year. It's He Walked Among Us, by Norman Spinrad. I bet it's already shipping now from Amazon.

Maybe you've read some Spinrad. Some pieces here and there. Or maybe you've been trying to make the time to read Bug Jack Barron for decades now. Or maybe you've read some of his books. My own personal favorites are Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream, Pictures at 11, Little Heroes, The Mind Game. My previous favorite was probably Norman's mainstream novel of Hollywood, Passing Through the Flame. My favorite now is He Walked Among Us.

Spinrad had trouble getting this book published and it boggles my mind. Here is not only one of the finest science fiction writers that ever published, but one of the most important writers of the modern age. I'm not kidding.

He Walked Among Us was previously published in a typically overpriced and poorly manufactured POD edition in 2004. Norman Spinrad having to put his work out in what is barely a notch above self publishing. It's criminal.

Why did he have such a difficult time getting He Walked Among Us published? For one thing, Spinrad has never been afraid to bite the hand that feeds him. He has been an acerbic critic of organized science fiction fandom for a long time. He paints the community in a harsh light in He Walked Among Us. I have the experience to tell you that his unflattering depictions of SF conventioneers is pretty damned accurate.

Also, Spinrad's career has been hard to classify in any one particular genre. He's known as a science fiction writer and many of his book fall solidly in that realm. Russian Spring, Songs From the Stars, The Void Captain's Tale, Greenhouse Summer, for examples. He has also written books that made him a popular figure in the counterculture, like The Children of Hamelin and Passing Through the Flame. There are stories that seem pulled direct from current events, such as The Mind Game and Pictures at 11. Spinrad has even done historical fiction: Mexica and The Druid King.

So what, exactly, is He Walked Among Us? Well, that's a hard one. In a way it's science fiction. It's also an acidly satiric satire of show business. The novel is screamingly funny at times. There are New Age aspects to He Walked Among Us. It's philosophical. It might deal with Quantum Physics, but I'm not exactly sure. And it also has some hardcore scenes that might make Edward Lee wince.

Jimmy Balaban is an aging, seedy, third rate show biz agent. He meets a dubious comedian named Ralf who claims to be from the future. He's here to save us from ourselves. It's an odd act, but Jimmy is a pro and the nose knows. Maybe there is a little bit of money to be made from this strange act. He takes Ralf on as a client and hires a male science fiction writer and a female New Age guru to turn Ralf into the cash cow that he always wanted. Astonishingly, it works. The question remains: Who, or what, is Ralf?

Spinrad has called He Walked Among Us his magnum opus and I definitely agree. I've been a fan of his work for a long time and I've been continually blown away by his writing. He Walked Among Us, however, is a revelation.

Naturally, a lot of people aren't going to get it. This isn't an easy, simple book. Oh, it's easy enough to read, but it's even easier to dismiss it as gimmicky fluff. Worse, readers could feel that Spinrad has a condescending attitude toward his audience. That he's laughing at them or feeling smugly superior. I don't feel that way, but a complex novel like He Walked Among Us can be interpreted in endless ways. That's part of the beauty of it.

Spinrad has always had an amazing imagination, which is augmented by his own radical sensibilities. I've always felt an element of danger in his work.

Norman Spinrad recently announced on Facebook that he has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. He had previously been told that it was inoperable, but there is greater hope now. It's still terrible news. This writer is a treasure and it's horrible to think that we may be losing him soon. Perhaps he'll pull out of it. I've always perceived Norman Spinrad as a fighter and I believe that he'll fight this battle with the courage that he is known for possessing. Hopefully he'll emerge with his health and years of productive life ahead of him. Forget the vicious lie that everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Cancer is the worst thing in the world and it'll take its toll on him.

Thankfully we have a large body of work from Norman Spinrad to keep us astonished, entertained, and best of all, to keep us thinking. And he's never done a better work than He Walked Among Us. This writer has been neglected for far too long. He Walked Among Us deserves to be a success. And Norman Spinrad deserves more respect than he has gotten lately. A lot more respect.

Please consider buying a copy of He Walks Among Us.

---Mark Sieber

Spinrad, Norman. He Walked Among Us. Tor. Apr. 2010. c.544p. ISBN 978-0-7653-2584-6. $27.99. SF

When talent agent Jimmy Balaban discovers an ad lib comic named Ralf who claims to be from the future, he recognizes a potential moneymaker. Together with a once-famous sf writer and a New Age guru, the trio transform Ralf into a messiah-like figure who brings a message about a desolate future and the need to transform the world in order to avert disaster. When Ralf refuses to break character, his handlers wonder whether he is their creation or whether his message from the future is in fact real. VERDICT First published in France, this latest novel by one of sf's most distinguished authors (Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream) presents a cautionary tale that is at once sardonically witty and intellectually thought-provoking. A big book in more than pagination, this meaty saga of a contemporary prophet is essential for sf fans.

Library Journal







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Norman Spinrad is the author of some 20 or so novels, five or six dozen short stories, a classic Star Trek epsisode, a couple of flop movies, an album's worth of songs, political columns, film criticism, literary criticicsm, mini-cookbooks, autobiography, and a bunch of assorted other stuff.
The latest to be written is a new and literarily revolutionary novel called WELCOME TO YOUR DREAMTIME, in which you, the reader are the viewpoint character, and sections of which have been published in a weird assortment of magazines as free-standing short stories.
The latest to be published in the US,by Tor, is HE WALKED AMONG US, a novel so far ahead of itself that it had to wait until it had become something of the fave rave of a radical viral internet distribution experiment and a cause celebre in France as IL EST PARMI NOUS before any traditional American publisher would bring it out in paper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read this book unless you're a true literate., January 24, 2000

By 

"alexsavulescu" (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Spring (Hardcover)

Norman Spinrad did an extraordinary job in taking a snapshot of the world as it might (and should) have looked like these days, if things were a little different. Norman wrote this book in Paris, far from his native country, the United States, and I read it again and again in the United States, far from my home in Eastern Europe. So I can see there's sadness in his writing and his characters, the wise sadness of a man with too many shattered dreams, who can't feel comfortable anymore in this "brave(! ) new world". People focus excessively on the writer's gift to be a prophet and often forget to worry about the literary value. Still, the "Russian Spring" has plenty of both. OK, Russia went into turmoil deeper and more desperately than in the book, and the European Union is less effective than we hoped, but so what? Tragically, Spinrad is right about one thing: America is truly becoming provincial and narrow-minded.

This is a book about people, their power to dream, and their dedication to bring the dreams to life, regardless of the sacrifices they have to make. The setting is less important, regardless of the glamour of the fantasy. The people you meet as you turn the pages are real, their qualities, defects, joys and sorrows are real, and the political games played on both sides of the Atlantic are just as disgusting as in real life. Alas that we don't have the road to stars, yet. Like the film "Contact", this book is easy to be overlooked by snobbish and arrogant critics, who can only think in terms of "thumbs up and down", easily digested by the masses. But there is a spark in Spinrad's book that I've rarely met in contemporary literature, and its catharthic quality hits you like a brilliant flash. As long as there'll be writers out there who do their job like Norman Spinrad, the human race still has a chance to evolve from the seemingly endless gutter of consumerism and cheap thrills.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Future Ain't What it Used to Be, January 11, 2005

By 

H.L. Mencken (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Spring (Mass Market Paperback)

Many of the predictions made by Spinrad in this book had already come to pass by the time of its publication. When Spinrad began work on this novel in the fall of 1988, he could only imagine the dissolution of the Soviet empire and the collapse of communism, the re-unifcation of Germany, the success of the Euopean common market, and America thrust into depression by decades of deficit spending and military buildup.

Spinrad is at his best in Russian Spring while detailing the inner conflicts in which his characters must choose between their compassion and their ideals. If the novel suffers is that it tries to encompas to much in its scope: a second sexual revolution in the wake of an AIDS vaccine; a character who runs for the Vice Presidency of the United States. But there are enough moments of brilliance to keep one turning the pages. And perhaps these events, in some form or another, will happen, too.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A child of perestroika, June 15, 2000

By 

Gabor Lake (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Spring (Hardcover)

This book is the fruit of a great feeling of optimism for a more united and free Europe, launched by the reformist communist leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Never popular in his own country, he was and still is in Europe and when I was reading this book 92, it sounded like an interesting perspective of the European future, with an integrated Russia... Nothing to do with the Cold Peace we experienced since shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Interestingly, this is not the first science fiction book treating the "immediate" future of our world, by showing us a very unpopular and isolationist United States, menace that everytime comes alive when you listen to Republican politicians talking about the role of the USA in world politics.

For Europeans, this book caresses a dream of a future "common house" (to cite Gorbachev) where war is definitely a bad memory. What a contrast to the reality with wars in the Balkans and the Caucasus.

Besides the social and political aspects of this book, this novel is also a wonderful story of a woman and a man from two different worlds coming together... Read about their fascinating lives and that of their children... You wont regret it.