- Paperback: 252 pages
- Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (Sep 30 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1568582080
- ISBN-13: 978-1568582085
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 15 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #846,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Former managing editor of Adbusters Jim Munroe (Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask) presents Angry Young Spaceman, in which post-slacker college grad Sam ditches Earth's power-brokering to teach English on the underwater world of Octavia in 2959. After becoming close with some of Octavia's eight-armed and robot inhabitants (and learning the pleasures of interplanetary romance), he decides to subvert Earth's cultural imperialism by playing unappealing earthlings in Octavian movies, and earns exile status as a result.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Sam Breen, earthling, is pretty much standard issue for a recent college graduate. He's got a bad attitude, a massive student loan, and his eye on a snappy jetpack. So he does what any graduate of the class of 2959 would do: He signs up to teach English as a foreign language. Sam ends up on the underwater planet of Octavia, populated by eight-armed beings that have a voracious appetite for English ... and a few other things, as Sam discovers. But at the spaceport, someone steals his Speak-O-Matic translator, he gets into a barfight, and things go downhill — or underwater — from there. Still, Sam learns more than he teaches: from Mr. Zik, a singer of melancholy songs; from a robot named 9/3; and from Jinya, whose undulating tentacles make Sam forget all about human appendages.
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First Sentence
I had a massive suitcase dragging down one first and my Speak-O-Matic case in the other. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I had a massive suitcase dragging down one first and my Speak-O-Matic case in the other. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Fable,
By
This review is from: Angry Young Spaceman (Paperback)
In his second novel, former Adbusters editor Munroe skillfully employs a veneer of science-fiction to cloak his pointed criticisms of contemporary American cultural and economic imperialism. This classic device (most famously used on the original Star Trek series) allows him to transform what might have been a very tired whinefest into a funny and engaging story. Ostensibly set about 1000 years in the future, the story's protagonist is Sam, an aimless young man who rejects his privileged background and the prospect of a cushy family job to go teach English to a squidlike race at the farthest ends of the galaxy. The impetus for this flight is his embarrassment over having been a "pug"-a kind of underground street-fighter very much akin those in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club. However, in a future where even the most unlikely subculture is a creation of marketing teams, those searching for authenticity are bound to be disappointed.Sam's fish-out-of-water (or rather human-in-water, his new home planet is all underwater) story is charming enough in its own right, as he leaves behind a girl, tries to learn local ways by hanging out with other teachers, gains a love interest, and muddles his way through an exotic alien culture. However, the parallels to our world are obvious and meant to be so. Earth is the galaxy's hegemon, and uses its imposed system of intellectual property rights to stay on top, with the result that English is the passport to success throughout the galaxy. The story highlights the uncomfortable paradox of English being embraced by other cultures around the world for good economic reasons, and this embrace ultimately leading to a weakening of those cultures. Sam's journey to a backwater planet to teach English is extremely suggestive of similar jobs that exist in many parts of Asia and Eastern Europe today. Indeed, there are more than a few echoes of Japan in his new home of Octavia, and his get-togethers with other English teachers strike familiar notes of expatriate life. Lest one think it's all polemic, it should be noted that the book is written in a very chatty, witty style and never gets too dark or brooding. There are plenty of subplots, such as his friendships with a young man who grew up on the moon, a robotman, and another Earthling, not to mention his local love interest and the will-they-or-won't-they tension there. More ominous is a subplot revolving around his becoming the first human fluent in Octavian and the ramifications of that development. Certainly, hard science fiction buffs could tug the science of the book apart, but there's plenty of wild inventiveness to divert the casual fan of the genre. All in all, a highly entertaining read with a solid progressive message behind it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Angry Young Author (4.5 stars),
By Nathan (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Angry Young Spaceman (Paperback)
ANGRY YOUNG SPACEMAN is a fast, fun, touching, tragic book about a disenfranchised young man who departs a future Earth -- treeless, oceanless, completely commercialized and culturally regulated -- to teach English on a backwater, underwater world. On the surface, this book is an interesting, vividly imagined fish-out-of-water story, but it is also so much more. Munroe packs this book chock-full of biting social/cultural/political commentary/criticism -- pretty much you can just substitute America for Earth, and just about any third-world country for Octavia, and you'll get the picture. Despite the serious and relevant undertones, the book is written in a funny, witty, straightforward conversational tone, making it very readable and almost impossible to put down. The characters, while not people I'd particularly want to spend time with, are interesting and likeable, the settings are interesting, well fleshed-out, and believable. The customs and conventions of the people ring true, as do the attempts by the locals of "modernization" to meet the Earth standards. This book is well worth the read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is this SF? Well, it's a good read, anyway,
By
This review is from: Angry Young Spaceman (Paperback)
The young protagonist of this book leaves Earth to teach English (the only official language for dealing with Earth itself, which is portrayed as an high-handed superpower) on a remote planet inhabithed by a weird human/squid race.I believe that the author choose a SF setting to (thinly) disguise his criticism of current political and cultural issues. In a sense the novel is very similar to novels (or non fiction books) about americans (or western men in general) who spend some time in Japan, teaching English and trying to adjust to a very different culture (like "Ransom" or "Angry White Pyjamas"). Just don't read it for the Science in "Science Fiction"; it would probably disappoint you. Apart from this, I found it funny and touching, and the author surely has a vivid imagination.
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