STAINLESS/RAT/BORN: Amazon.ca: Harry Harrison: Books

Product Description

From the Publisher

In the auspicious annals of crime, chicanery, and counterespionage, one name towers above all the rest - Slippery Jim diGriz, the famous outlaw known and feared as the Stainles Steel Rat! Now the uncanny, untold origins of the 25th century's most canny criminal are at last revealed.

This thrilling volume in the saga of James diGriz explores his humble beginnings as a petty criminal on the backward planet of Bit O'Heaven, and his rapid rise to the most wanted man on a dozen worlds. And it contains the never-before-told story of the fabled archcriminal known as The Bishop, who tutored young Jim in the higher arts of crime and gave him his legendary nickname. A rousing, rolicking, often touching tale, A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born is a stirring portrait of a man who learned to laugh at the laws that bind ordinary men. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Slippery Jim is what Mitnick wanted to be, Jun 23 2003

By A Customer

I've read tons of Sci-Fi but somehow missed the Stainless Steel Rat series. Only read this one so far. It was a lot of fun. Made a guy want to take up a life of crime for fun and frolic! Bit 'O Heaven sure reminded me of Wisconsin or Iowa, complete with McSwiney's and big ornery farm critters to chase you around.

When he lands in that godforsaken warlord land, it made me wonder if Harry had ever been to Chechnya, Dagestan or Afghanistan. Except that if he had, I'd guess he'd have made the characters intervening with the warlords much less idealistic and a lot more clueless and idiotically bureacratic, as only the CIA can manage. In real life, nobody has a clue except the field ops guys and they can't make a decision.

I've met characters along the lines of Jimmy Digriz. They are alive and stealing millions from the World Bank in the Balkans and other places like that, arranging to have themselves kidnapped in the Caucasus, etcetera. Can't say as I like them - they do terrible damage, but Jimmy Digriz certainly makes it seem like the way to go.

Maybe ... :-)

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2.0 out of 5 stars A So-So So-n-So, Mar 12 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born (Paperback)

Not a great book, and not the best of the Rat pack. Harrison has a lot of fun making fun of modern foibles in the future, but the story is overly episodic, the technology of the future seems less advanced than our own (but for space travel), and the author's ideas about authority and responsibility come across as identical to those of a thirteen-year-old slacker. But the story is rapid, the cliffhangers well constructed, and the Bishop is a joy of a character.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and more fun! Anti-hero from tomorrow for today!, Feb 24 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born (Paperback)

What an amusing and entertaining read! If you've read the Stainless Steel novels, you allready now of Sleepery Jeem and his inter-galactic adventures.. But this insight into his character and background is a triumph to the sci-fi serial heros. Harrison is one of the funniest sci-fi authors of the past 30 years, probably best known for his novel, "Make Room! Make Room!" for which the movie Soylent Green was based upon. Harrison writes like a mutated Arthur Douglas/Larry Niven/Rex Stout mixture, and the reader will double over at the funny circumstances, the hilarious dialogues, and the quick but dry-witted narration of Slippery Jim DeGriz. The Stainless Steel hero is the future day Anti-hero, the hero who is actually the smartest crook to ever live! Read this book and then read the other Stainless Steel novels. You will have a new favorite sci-fi character!!!!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginnings of a rat
How did the Stainless Steel Rat gets its start? This is the book to find out. Reads like a great autobiography. A must for any rat fan.

Published on Feb 10 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born" is a thought provoking book
This book is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read. As soon as I started reading it, the character of Jim Di Griz sprang to life in my mind. Read more

Published on Sep 23 1997

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good and throught-provoking
This book is one you won't be able to put down. If you know Jimmy diGriz, you won't be disappointed. Read more

Published on Feb 27 1997

5.0 out of 5 stars If you need to relax and have a few laughs, look no further!
This is the first book in Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, although it was one of the last to be written. Read more

Published on Dec 21 1996