2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most entertaining in the SSR series!, February 9, 1999
By A Customer
If you like the Stainless Steel Rat books, this will be one of your favorites! Slippery Jim is at his best when accompanied by Angelina and the boys... which is the case here. The SSR puts together one of his best schemes with the help of his lady love and slippery sons. This one has it all: politics, laughs, adventure & even a hint of romance! Harrison does it again.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 stars, audio version, March 15, 2011
Fascist dictators, watch out -- Slippery Jim diGriz is on the planet, and he'll stop at nothing to secure freedom, peace, and representation for the people. Even if he has to lie, cheat, steal, and stuff ballot boxes to do it.
Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series is lots of fun and you can't help but love con-man Slippery Jim, his sadistic wife Angelina, and their twin sons James and Bolivar who are, for better or worse, chips off the old blocks. This time, in The Stainless Steel Rat for President, the whole family takes a vacation on a backward planet that's modeled after a mid-20th-century Central American republic which is democratic in theory but in reality is being enslaved by a totalitarian dictator backed by a vicious military force. Even though they're completely corrupt themselves, the diGriz family can't stand to see innocent people suffering because they make their living stealing from corporations -- not people (I'm not sure what kind of entities own, run, and otherwise make their livings from the corporations if it's not people... but, I digress...).
No corrupt martial government is a match for the diGriz family. Armed with their combined good looks and sharp wits, a fast car, lots of cool gadgets, a wardrobe of disguises, and plenty of sleep gas and nose plugs, they set out to bring down the tyrant. And, of course, we know they will -- the fun is in how they get it done and the trouble they run into along the way. The Stainless Steel Rat for President relies too heavily on the sleep gas (every time we think Jim's bound to be caught, out it comes), and the story drags during some car chases, but there are many clever scenes and laugh-out-loud moments.
The best part, as I've mentioned before with this series, is the production by Brilliance Audio. These books are read by the riotously funny voice actor Phil Gigante who saves the day by providing constant diversion even when the plot sometimes can't quite muster it up.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the funniest books in a very amusing series, July 30, 2006
Harry Harrison does comedy better than almost any other Science Fiction writer, and the Stainless Steel Rat - Slippery Jim Di Griz - is probably his funniest creation. This is my personal favourite of the Stainless Steel Rat books.
After one adventure too many, Slippery Jim, his beautiful but slightly murderous wife Angelina, and their two sons decide to have a rest on a backward planet. However, they get mixed up in the planet's politics, challenging the military dictator who has maintained himself in power for hundreds of years by rigging electors.
If you enjoy this, another comedy SF series which might amuse you, by Harrison's only serious competitor for the title of funniest Science Fiction writer, is the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. The first book about Miles is "The Warrior's Apprentice."
Looking back on the events of "The Stainless Steel Rat for President" I wonder if Ferdinand Marcos read it. If so, unluckily for him, so did his opponents ....
Strongly recommended
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