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Stories of schizophrenic cities, technocratic rule, and mistaken identities by the Hugo Award–winning author of When Gravity Falls. In these eleven short stories by speculative fiction master George Alec Effinger, New York's populace must deal with the realities of a bi-polar existence; patients' brains are cut to tiny pieces in a clinical search for the medical definition of bliss; a little child's natural fear of the dark is exploded into new mind-bending phobias and a cartoon favorite pays a personal visit to an aging, aching fan. Humor, sheer audacity, and an eclectic array of human fears and expectations placed against each other all make this collection a perfect representation of Effinger's unique voice. He is a truly remarkable talent and one not to be missed.
George Alec Effinger
George A. Effinger was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1947. He attended Yale University, where an organic chemistry course disabused him of the notion of becoming a doctor. He had the opportunity to meet many of his science fiction idols thanks to his first wife, who was Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm’s babysitter. With their encouragement, he began writing science fiction in 1970. He published at least twenty novels and six collections of short fiction, including When Gravity Fails and The Exile Kiss. He also wrote and published two crime novels, Felicia and Shadow Money. With his Budayeen novels, Effinger helped to found the cyberpunk genre. He was a Hugo and Nebula Award winner and is a favorite among fellow science fiction writers.
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