The butterfly kid (Pyramid science fiction) [Paperback]

Chester Anderson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Pyramid Books; 1st Ed edition (1967)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007ESOSY
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,739,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Circus Seranade of Bleaker & McDougal, May 11, 2002

By 

Kathryn Fields (Inyokern, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Butterfly Kid (Paperback)

The things I like best about looking for Chester's, Michael's, Tom's, and even Toni's books are that I find both that most of the books are still available and surprisingly, a number of old friends are still lurking about. Amazon is going to have start serving coffee and small loaves of black bread if this continues.

After Chester, Michael, and Tom left Ave D, and Jamie left 6th St., the Ave D, 6th fl walk up apartment was turned over to one of the walk-ons from Butterfly Kid; a person I soon joined, sharing it and life and thus being able to attest to Jamie's history. However an added comment is relevant that Chester's recorder music comes alive to me as much from this tale of Blue Lobsters and culprits named Lazlo, as from the live listenings enjoyed on the street or in the Rienzie, and that is a clue to the readability of this work.

For those wanting to wander down the real fantasy streets of the Middle Ages of the Village or, for those wishing to refresh some memories, "Butterfly Kid" will romance and entertain you. Yes, many of us have read it and reread it again, but not just for the nostalgia. The tale is fun; the prose bringing the fantastic to bright color and the characters very much to life.

Pick up the next copy; read it quickly; check on its whereabouts regularly; and just hope who ever whisks it away enjoys it as much as we all have.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Forgotten, Except in Certain Circles, June 26, 2001

By 

James C. Fraser-Paige (San Leandro, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The butterfly kid (The Gregg Press science fiction series) (Paperback)

When Chester, Michael and Tom -- Anderson, Kurland and Waters -- were living at 63 Ave. D, I lived around the corner on Sixth Street. I read the Book when it first came out and was charmed. I knew everybody in the thing, which is a strange place to be. When it was nominated for a Hugo -- and lost to Zelazny's "Lord of Light" -- I was amazed. That book? Written by friends of mine? A Hugo? Wow!

The remarkable thing is that most of the book is true, with names slightly changed to protect the guilty. I know people who saw the Blue Lobsters. Really! The funny thing is that no one I know who knew Chester could keep the book on their shelves. You'd read it and then go look for it to loan to someone else to read and it would be gone! We figured that Chester recalled them to resell to new readers.

I was also surprised to learn that my girlfriend -- a charming woman, if a bit young for an old bohemian like me -- read it in high school. As an assigned book! Wow, the Eighties must have been strange!

If you can find it, read it. Search it out. It will reward you with the wonder of Chester's use of language, 'cause even tho' it's all true, Chester tells it better than it was!

And, yes, it was part of a sort of trillogy. The other parts by Michael -- and never, under any circusnstances Mike -- and Tom did exist. They weren't quite as wonderful to me as Chester's part, but worth reading if you find them.

Chester is gone, sad as that is. I haven't heard anything about TA in a while. Michael is still around and writing, good as ever, both SciFi and mystery.

A hue and cry should go out to the people who hold the rights demanding that they reprint it. It deserves to be easier to find even if the search is worth the effort.

If you do get your hands on a copy of "Butterfly Kid" don't expect it to stay on your shelf after you read it. I suspect Chester is still redistributing the wealth of his words.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lost SF classic that needs to be reprinted!, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Butterfly Kid (Paperback)

First in a series of three loosely linked novels (Michael Kurland "The Probability Pad" and Tom Waters "The Unicorn Girl" are the other two in the series. All three books are among the funniest I've ever read, as well as complete with allusions to 60's culture and other science fiction. The Waters book, for example, begins in Berkeley in the 60's, and segues neatly into Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy universe. Please God (and publishers!), introduce a new generation to the glories of reality pills, lobsters with attitude, and slipping universes.