On my way to the SF rack I stopped by Classics and ended up grabbing a copy of Moby Dick. I can't recall who recommended it here (there were a few of you) but wow were you right. I think Ishmael is a bit of a bulshitter (especially when he says Linnaeus is wrong and a whale is definitely a fish!) but the way he tells the story is mighty engaging. Even when he stops in the middle of the action to give us his BS taxonomy or to tell a side tale about another ship's encounter with Moby Dick. I'm so happy to be enthralled by this 150-year-old book.

On my way home from checking it out I stopped at the 99cent store where the owner is stereotypically blond and perky. She asked what I was reading and when I told her she said excitedly, "oh that's a great book!"

A couple days ago I stopped in again and told her how much I was enjoying it. I mentioned I was 1/2 way through and still no whale had entered the narrative. She said, "oh don't expect them to show up any time soon."

I have finally gotten to the part with whales but anyway, thanks again buffistas, I'm so glad I didn't dismiss this book for being an antique.

It's always kind of mindboggling to realize that some classic books are classics for a reason. I stayed up late reading "Odysseus" because I loved how Penelope was bamboozling her suitors. And of course, Jane Eyre had me riveted.

I'm planning on reading it shortly...I'm sick of being intimidated. And it's my fake husband's favorite.

Has anyone read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane? I'm about 50 pages in, and I am still trying to decide if it is worth reading.

For some reason, neither the DH nor myself had read any of the Philip Jose Farmer Riverworld books. I am in the middle of the first and he has moved onto the second. They are great fun so far!

I emailed Terry Bisson (who wrote "Fire on the Mountain" which I consider the greatest alternate world book ever to ask him to sign an email petition for a cause I was pretty sure he would support. In the course of the email I demonstrated love for and knowledge of his work, including some short stories of his that are a bit obscure. I gave him my meatspace address, just so this email from a stranger was at least not from an anonymous source.

And, in addition to signing the on-line petition, he mailed an autographed copy of his latest book to my home address! That is one hell of a generous gift to a stranger who you just heard of due to his bugging you to sign an on-line petition. I mean its not like I'm even an acquaintance, let alone a friend, or that he's had occasion to hear of me before.

I can't find that one at the library, so what else should I read by bisson?

Talking Man is also great.

Also hard to find.

Bears Discover Fire collection may be available.

Also, online: "They're Made out of Meat!" [link]

"Fire on the Mountain" and "Talking Man" are completely different from any other work of Bisson, poetic where most of what he writes is absurdist. Fully drawn charactes where his usual style is to mix realistically drawn people with cartoons. I like most of Bisson's stuff. But his other books will won't even give you a clue as to what "Fire on the Mountain" is like. His other stuff reads as though it was written by a completely different writer than FOTM.

Read the other things , enjoy them (or not). But nothing else by Bisson will tell your whether or not you will like "Fire on the Mountain".

Here is his website, from which you can get titles of his other books. In addition to writing the stuff he really wants to write, he also does movie novelizations, and editing and as-told-to and basically whatever he can get for money. The way he describes is he writes what he wants to write mornings, and writes whatever pays best afternoons.

Oh one last thing. Fire On The Mountain is back in print thanks to PM press. So it might be worth ordering.

There is a $5.12 Kindle edition: [link] though if you order through Amazon, better to use the Buffista link so the Buffistas get their share.

For some reason, neither the DH nor myself had read any of the Philip Jose Farmer Riverworld books. I am in the middle of the first and he has moved onto the second. They are great fun so far!

Sadly, at some point, they just get random, but I can't remember exactly what that point was. Probably midway through The Dark Design.