Storymusing on TVA Baby and Other Stories by Terry Bisson

 

TVA Baby and Other Stories 

by Terry Bisson

For the month of June our Thematic Book Club went with the concept of “The Future.” It was no problem choosing a book this month as I have a number of science fiction books sitting on my shelf at home that I’ve requested over the years for gifts.

The author Terry Bisson first caught my attention with a humorous award winning short story, “They’re Made Out of Meat.” It’s told from the perspective of two aliens watching humans. They are grossed out by the fact human bodies are made out of meat. I found it quite hilarious at the time.

I don’t remember when I requested the collection, TVA Baby, but it must have been in a book review magazine I read at work. I put the book on my wish list and it came to me one holiday as a gift.

I picked it up expecting straight up science fiction. It turned out to be what I’ve learned to call more speculative fiction — somewhere between science fiction and tall tales. Some are inspiring, some are kind of depressing, but most are thought provoking in one way or another.

To be honest, the first story in the collection, TVA Baby, left me wondering if I really wanted to read this collection. It seemed like a cross between a macho action story of the John D. MacDonald variety and a singularly ruthless Murdoch from the A-Team.

Private Eye slowed things down and had more of a Philip Marlowe meets the ennui of the future just trying to get by. I found it much more interesting and enjoyable.

Pirates of the Somali Coast again had me wondering if I really wanted to read this book? The young main character dances without reality through a bloody pirate take over of his cruise ship. It seems to ask the question, what if a child really could not tell the difference between video games and reality? A problem I have never seen in a child, to be honest, though I suppose there may be a few out there who really couldn’t tell the difference.

The Stamp was one of the shortest but also one of the more interesting, featuring a boy who had purchased some stamps for his brother’s birthday that showed things which hadn’t happened yet. The identity of the two children makes it all the more interesting.

Catch ‘Em in the Act was intriguing if a bit gritty. A young man gets a hold of a video camera that claims to help the viewer stop crimes, but actually seems to make people do things they wouldn’t otherwise consider until he viewed them through it. A bit Supernatural and rather interesting to see where it led.

The rest of the stories were at different turns sad and lovely, absurd and cringe-worthy, inventive, bland, crude, and thought provoking.

Brother Can You Spare a Dime was one of the most interesting and creative of the stories in this collection. It starts with a homeless man who is being pushed along by the police. The homeless man finds himself transported to the future and realizes the dimes have his face on them. He comes to the conclusion that he must do something in the past worthy of the honor of having his face on the money which brings about the beautiful future and returns to his own time. I do love a good time travel story, and I love any story with a good twist ending, as this one goes on to have.

Overall, I did not enjoy every story, but they were definitely thought provoking and made my brain consider new avenues of thought that helped me start working on one of my own stories again. Venture in at your own risk.