Think Like a Dinosaur: And Other Stories (Paperback)

by James Patrick Kelly (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This is a handsome, limited edition collection of the best work by one of the finest short fiction writers in science fiction. There are 14 stories in all, ranging from straight SF to tales that stray into the fantasy and horror genres. Of special note is the title story, which earned the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novelette and a 1996 Nebula Award nomination. But all of the stories are excellent in their own right. An insightful forward by James Patrick Kelly's friend and sometimes collaborator John Kessel (Corrupting Dr. Nice) leads off the collection and explores Kelly's somewhat underrated career. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA?A unique collection of short stories that explore what it is to be human in the technological age, new scientific discoveries, and the dawn of space travel. The selections, representing a 20-year writing career, are easy to read and enjoyable even for non-science-fiction readers. The title story is set on a planet inhabited by intelligent dinosaurs who have discovered the secret of instantaneous space travel and who teach the protagonist to think like a reptile. Some stories are futuristic; in "Pogrom," the generation gap has swelled to violent proportions. Other stories appear, at first, to be contemporary fiction, but there is always a little twist to make readers shudder and realize this is NOT normal. "Big Guy" explores the implications of a future high technology world where people rarely meet face to face and everything is done via virtual reality.?Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930846207
• ISBN-13: 978-1930846203
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,274 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story collection, November 24, 2001

By	Fosky Bob "human" (Vacaville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Think Like a Dinosaur: And Other Stories (Hardcover)

James Patrick Kelly is a wonderful secret. If you polled a representative sampling of readers who call themselves SF fans, I would bet that not 50% are familiar with James Patrick Kelly. This is a shame because Mr. Kelly's work are of the very highest quality. This collection of short fiction shows off the very best of Kelly's stories and not one of them should be missed.

My favorite story of the collection is 'Mr. Boy', a wonderful novella about a 25-year-old who has re-engineered himself to remain in a 12-year-old body. This is Mr. Boy. Throughout the story Mr. Boy begins to mature, and he's not quite sure how to handle this. This 60+ page novella makes the entire collection worth purchasing, but there's so much more.

The wonderful stories "Rat", "Monsters", "Think Like a Dinosaur", and many more make this one of the most outstanding collections that I've had the good fortune to come across. Like all Golden Gryphon press books, this is an extraordinary collection from a very talented author. The Golden Gryphon imprint on a book is enough to make me open the wallet, even if it's an author that I am totally unfamiliar with. They put out excellent quality books filled with very good fiction. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handsome volume of the best work of a major SF author, November 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Think Like a Dinosaur: And Other Stories (Hardcover)

This volume contains fourteen of Kelly's best stories,including twoHugo nominees and four Nebula nominees. The title story is the best known, and the most discussed, of all of them, seen by many as a response or follow-up to Tom Godwin's classic, "The Cold Equations." The other stories represent the best of Kelley's work, and make it available in a permanent form. This is the first volume from a new publisher, Golden Gryphon, and is a very well-produced volume. (I hope someone is bringing single-author collections such as these to the attention of libraries, since they provide the only way for most libraries to get some of the best work of today's leading authors.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant collection., May 7, 2004

By	Austin Ross (Marietta, OH) - See all my reviews

James Patrick Kelly is among the best there is in science fiction. There are some real classics contained in Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories, from the now-famous title story, "Think Like a Dinosaur" (which won a well-deserved Hugo Award) to his brilliant, fast-paced novella, "Mr. Boy," which had a tremendous impact on me when I first read it, and still does. There's "Rat," one of my favorite cyberpunk tales, and the psychedelic "The First Law of Thermodynamics." Buy this book, read the stories contained within, and prepare to be duly impressed.

There is, however, no real thread linking these stories together; Kelly is something of a literary chameleon, and as such has created different moods and textures for each individual story. That is one of the true joys of reading his work, the fact that when you first start reading a Kelly story, all previous experiences you've had of his fiction means very little. Kelly has not attained as large a following as I think he deserves, probably due in part to his slow production of novels (he's only written four so far), but in the end recognition isn't the issue. The art is the issue, and Kelly is a true artist.