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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 7/3/92 -- Vol. 11, No. 1
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
07/15 MT: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SCIENCE FICTION by David Pringle (SF
reference books) (MT 1P-364)
08/05 HO: THE SILMARILLION by J.R.R. Tolkien (Alternate Mythologies)
(HO 1N-410)
08/26 HO: BONE DANCE by Emma Bull (Hugo nominee) (HO 1N-410)
_D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C.
07/11 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Nicholas
Jainschigg (artist) (phone 201-933-2724 for details)
(Saturday)
07/18 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 hocpb!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1D-505A 908-834-1267 hocpb!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 mtfme!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Another comment on film and a recent discussion I had: I
recently was discussing movies with someone who told me "Well, as
far as I'm concerned, there's no doubt: _R_a_g_i_n_g _B_u_l_l was the best
film of the 80's. No question about it." That seems to be a
fairly common opinion of film critics, but I have to say that the
film does not do that much for me.
_R_a_g_i_n_g _B_u_l_l was a very realistic portrait of a bunch of people of
whom I was not anxious to see any portrait. If Michelangelo were
around today and sculpted his impression of the electrical outlet
by my desk he might do as great a vision as anybody could of an
electrical outlet. But he probably could not do anything I would
consider great art because the subject matter is just not
THE MT VOID Page 2
compelling enough. The people in _R_a_g_i_n_g _B_u_l_l are certainly more
compelling than are electrical outlets, but not enough so that I
could really enjoy the film.
My friend commented on my saying that as far as I was concerned
that the best films of the 1980s were _T_h_e _K_i_l_l_i_n_g _F_i_e_l_d_s and EMPIRE
OF THE SUN. He said:
_E_m_p_i_r_e _o_f _t_h_e _S_u_n was an interesting film -- I'm not convinced
it was a good film, though. John Malkovich was good, the
story was certainly interesting, but overall the film struck
me as long and drawn out and an eager attempt at something
beyond the average American film. It failed in that as far as
I'm concerned.
_E_m_p_i_r_e _o_f _t_h_e _S_u_n made a strong impression on me. It put me into
the center of what I considered to be great events and a society I
had not seen before. More importantly Stephen Spielberg recognized
how filming in China was different than filming anywhere else in
the world. Specifically extras are cheap. So he put onto film
scenes that would be too expensive to film anywhere else in the
world. He filmed the solid wave of humanity in Shanghai at the
time of the panic. Anywhere else in the world you would have to
film it close up and show much fewer people. The director can
leisurely pan back and show you what really happens to a city in
panic. Spielberg had something like three days to film in China,
for _T_h_e _L_a_s_t _E_m_p_e_r_o_r Bertolucci had many months. Other than a few
exteriors at the Forbidden City, Bertolucci wasted actually being
in China filming scenes he could have easily filmed in Italy. I
have a mathematician's mind and mysticism rarely works for me in
films. Here it did because I had enough in common with Jim. It is
sort of a boy's mysticism based on the love of airplanes and I can
certainly understand that. I can see myself in a lot of the
similar situations that the boy was in this film.
The best part about _T_h_e _K_i_l_l_i_n_g _F_i_e_l_d_s was, again, Malkovich.
And, of course, Spalding Gray's bit part. But like _E_m_p_i_r_e _o_f
_t_h_e _S_u_n, _T_h_e _K_i_l_l_i_n_g _F_i_e_l_d_s struck me as muddied. I haven't
seen it in the past few years, so I can't make specifics. I
would, rate, _T_h_e _K_i_l_l_i_n_g _F_i_e_l_d_s far above _E_m_p_i_r_e _o_f _t_h_e _S_u_n.
But, compared to _R_a_g_i_n_g _B_u_l_l, both fall far, far behind.
No wonder he rated it much lower than I did. He was looking at the
American story. I see the Americans as just prologue. This film
is about Cambodia's huge dilemma. You see the Americans totally
mismanaging the war and you think "Ugh! What could be worse than
this? The Americans are destroying a country they don't understand
at all." Then the Americans disappear and you find out what they
had been holding back was a hell infinitely worse.
THE MT VOID Page 3
I get the impression that in a film he want to get inside people's
heads (even people like Jake LaMotto), and I like to get inside get
inside big historical events, to see what they were like and
understand the issues. Both are reasonable goals, but we have to
recognize they are different and the reader should factor in that
difference if one reads my reviews.
2. The last issue had the right volume and number (10/52) but the
wrong date; it said "6/19" when it should have been "6/26." [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
God was able to create the world in only seven days
because he had no installed base to consider.
-- Andy Finkel, Commodore-Amiga Inc.
LETTERS TO THE PRESS edited by John Michael Gibson and R. L. Green
University of Iowa Press, 1986, ISBN 0-87745-137-0, $29.95
SHERLOCK HOLMES LETTERS edited by R. L. Green
University of Iowa Press, 1986, ISBN 0-87745-161-3, $27.50
Two book reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Evelyn C. Leeper
_L_e_t_t_e_r_s _t_o _t_h_e _P_r_e_s_s is a collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's
letters to the press on various subjects (in my previous review of
Peter Costello's _R_e_a_l _W_o_r_l_d _o_f _S_h_e_r_l_o_c_k _H_o_l_m_e_s I discussed Conan
Doyle's role in various criminal investigations). It starts will a
couple of letters on obscure medical matters which may discourage
you, but have faith--most of the book is perfectly understandable I
did tend to skip the letters on occultism, which occupy an
increasing percentage of the chapters as the book progresses (it is
arranged chronologically), but the rest cover a fascinating range,
and many of them remain topical today, including comments on the
Contagious Diseases Act and the Coronation Oath.
In _S_h_e_r_l_o_c_k _H_o_l_m_e_s _L_e_t_t_e_r_s Richard Green collects published
announcements of the various Holmes stories, letters to various
publishers about them and about Holmes in general, reviews of plays,
etc. Some of the letters are lengthy analyses; some are brief one-
or two-liners.
Somehow, it's impossible to review book like these, so I'll
just say that at almost $30 each these would be for completists
only, but remaindered for $4.95 at the Strand (and possibly
elsewhere), they are fun reading for the fan and good background
material for the historian.
NIGHT ON EARTH
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Five cab rides in five major
cities all happening at the same time and none really
go anywhere. This film is mostly about personality
and talk, but you won't remember any of the cab rides
any more than your last real cab ride. This is Jim
Jarmusch's most commercial film to date, but it is
still not greatly recommendable. Rating: 0 (-4 to
+4).
Jim Jarmusch's films are an acquired taste. In some ways they
are just too realistic to be really enthralling. Particularly in
his first film, _S_t_r_a_n_g_e_r _T_h_a_n _P_a_r_a_d_i_s_e, his characters always think
for five or ten seconds before speaking a single sentence. This
made listening to the conversations just a bit frustrating, which I
suppose was the point. After his _D_o_w_n _b_y _L_a_w, his most recent film
was _M_y_s_t_e_r_y _T_r_a_i_n, three interconnected stories taking place the
same day and night in Memphis, Tennessee.
_N_i_g_h_t _o_n _E_a_r_t_h is five stories involving taxi cab rides taking
place at the same instant. The stories are less connected than
those of _M_y_s_t_e_r_y _T_r_a_i_n. Each takes place in a different city: Los
Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki.
In Los Angeles, a rather butch tomboy cab driver (played by
Winona Ryder) drives a casting agent (played by Gena Rowlands).
Each is discouraged by the way things are going on her job and the
other may be able to help. In New York, a black man (played by
Giancarlo Esposito) hails a cab and finds his driver (played by
Armin Mueller-Stahl), a recent East German emigre', knows nothing
about New York or driving a cab. Esposito's frustration gives way
to friendship as the German is pulled into his life, but then the
German ends up worse than when he started. In Paris, a black cab
driver (played by Isaach De Bakole') first is the butt of racist
remarks from two drunk black passengers. He throws them out of his
cab and picks up instead a blind woman who is non-discriminatory--
she has a nasty attitude toward everyone.
Rome is the site of the fourth story where a very funny and
inventive cab driver (played by Roberto Begnini) confesses his sins
hilariously to a priest in his cab. It may or may not be a joke,
but it has serious consequences. The final sequence takes place in
Helsinki. This time the driver is played by Matti Pellonpaa (who
played the manager in the worth-looking-for _T_h_e _L_e_n_i_n_g_r_a_d _C_o_w_b_o_y_s _G_o
_A_m_e_r_i_c_a). He picks up three drunk passengers who tell him a sad
story that he matches with one of his own.
Night on Earth June 22, 1992 Page 2
Any of these segments might add needed texture to somebody's
film about a cab driver but it overall is a film that had the viewer
asking at the end of each segment, "Yeah? So?" Perhaps the idea,
like in _M_y _D_i_n_n_e_r _w_i_t_h _A_n_d_r_e, is just to let you hear the
conversation, but since the characters are so contrived there is
little feel that these are real conversations. And lulls in the
conversation tend only to stretch out a film already too long for
many audiences.
_N_i_g_h_t _o_n _E_a_r_t_h is a just-okay entry in Jarmusch's filmography.
I give it a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale. It is intriguing to compare
Jarmusch's films to _L_e_n_i_n_g_r_a_d _C_o_w_b_o_y_s _G_o _A_m_e_r_i_c_a. Aki
Kaurismaki recognizably borrows from Jarmusch's style, an
observation I made before I had realized that Jarmusch also acts in
_L_e_n_i_n_g_r_a_d _C_o_w_b_o_y_s _G_o _A_m_e_r_i_c_a. So the two directors have some
cross-fertilization. Yet of the two, Kaurismaki seems the better
director. Kaurismaki totally avoids the "so what?" response that so
often comes with Jarmusch's work.
ALTERNATE KENNEDYS edited by Mike Resnick
Tor, 1992, ISBN 0-812-51955-8, $4.99.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Evelyn C. Leeper
(This is a very long review. If you'd rather skip the
commentary on each individual story, just read the first three
paragraphs and then skip to the summary in the last four. The same
is true if you want to avoid any possible spoilers. In addition,
there is an overview of the Kennedy family at the end to help you
keep track of who's who.)
It's an ever-tightening spiral. First we had alternate history
stories appearing in general anthologies. Then we had general
alternate history anthologies (e.g., _R_o_b_e_r_t _A_d_a_m_s' _B_o_o_k _o_f _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e
_W_o_r_l_d_s). Then came Benford et al's _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _E_m_p_i_r_e_s and _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e
_H_e_r_o_e_s. Then we had Resnick's _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s. And now we
have _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s. What next? (Actually, from Resnick I
would expect _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _T_e_d_d_y_s, as he's written several mutually-
contradictory alternate Theodore Roosevelt stories.)
But even _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s may be too narrow a focus. The
twenty-seven authors seem to have realized this, and have done their
best to choose original premises for their stories, so we are spared
twenty-seven what-if-JFK-hadn't-been-killed-in-Dallas stories, but
even so.... (By the way, the cover blurb says "Twenty-five
speculations" when there are actually twenty-seven. And what odd
computer font glitch turned almost every "?" in the introductions
and afterwords to "/"s?) This anthology relies on the "Kennedy
mystique," and I suppose I should state up front that I find that my
interest in the Kennedys as a whole is no more than the sum of my
interest in the individuals and possibly less. And "Camelot" lost
its luster long ago when someone pointed out that "Ask not what your
country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" is as
applicable to the Third Reich as to an American democracy--or
perhaps even more so.
So now that you have some idea of the attitudes I brought to
this anthology, let us proceed with my usual interminable, story-
by-story analysis. Those desiring the short version of this review
should skip to the fourth paragraph from the end.
The first piece (after Resnick's introduction) is a poem by
Jane Yolen, "Camelot Redux or, Jack Kennedy Seen as an Alternating
Current." Alternating current, perhaps, but not an alternate
Kennedy in the usual sense of the phrase. (In his introduction,
Resnick said that he told Yolen if she didn't have time for a story
he'd take a poem. One suspects poets might take umbrage at the
implication here.)
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 2
Returning to the more traditional prose form, we have "A
Fleeting Wisp of Glory" by Laura Resnick. This too is not a
standard alternate Kennedy (although that element is there), but a
story of the far future, after generations of tale-spinners had
managed to merge Camelot (1) and Camelot (2). This particular story
follows the Kennedy theme, but the idea that future generations will
garble our history is not new to science fiction.
Either Barry N. Malzberg's writing is changing, or my tastes
are changing, but I find that I am coming to like most of his work
that I'm reading these days, and "In the Stone House" is no
exception. In this novelette, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., did not die
in World War II and instead became President in 1952, but the real
controlling force behind him, and John, and Robert, and Edward, was
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.--"the Ambassador." "In the Stone House"
looks at power and its effects on the controller and the controlled
in a very satisfying work. (Many of the stories will return to this
theme of control by the senior Kennedy.)
"The Kennedy Enterprise" by David Gerrold is one of that sub-
genre of alternate histories which ask the question, "What if a
famous world leader went into the entertainment industry instead?"
You wouldn't think there would be enough of these to form a sub-
genre, but after Howard Waldrop's "Ike at the Mike," it's become a
popular concept. (With ex-actors becoming President and
Presidential candidates playing saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall
Show," I admit the alternate history scenario resembles reality more
each day.) In this case, the leader is again Joseph P. Kennedy,
Sr., who decides to stay in Hollywood with Gloria Swanson instead of
moving into politics. Given Gerrold's background, "The Kennedy
Enterprise" is predictable but, like Gerrold's best-known work ("The
Trouble with Tribbles"), fun while it lasts.
In "The Best and the Brightest" Kristine Kathryn Rusch gets
away from both Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and JFK altogether and gives
us an alternate Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy. But though RFK is
central to the story, he is also "off-camera" for most of it,
providing a welcome break from the seemingly endless march of
Kennedys across the pages. Rusch also brings in the one major non-
Kennedy icon of the times, Martin Luther King, in a story with
multiple layers of "what might have been"--what might have been on a
national/global scale, and what might have been for one individual
based on the choices he makes. In doing so, she highlights better
than any of the other authors how everything we do, every decision
we make, every "road not taken," leads to one alternate history or
another. I can't help but think of the old line, "One person can
change the world." You don't have to be a Kennedy to do it.
Once you have the title of Jack C. Haldeman II's story, you
know what's coming: "The 1960 Presidential Campaign, Considered as a
World Wrestling Federation Steel Cage Match or Short Count in
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 3
Chicago." (However, both the table of contents and the page headers
settle for "Short Count in Chicago.") It's the Hyannis Kid versus
The Trickster, with refereeing by Chicago Dick. Twenty-five years
ago, J. G. Ballard wrote "The Assassination of John Fitzgerald
Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race." Coming only four
years after the assassination, Ballard's story was considered in
poor taste by many and was not widely available. So some readers
may think this story original; I see it as an updated allusion, or
perhaps homage, to the Ballard.
Susan Shwartz's "Siren Song" combines a legend of a sailor from
thousands of years ago with one of a sailor from our own time, with
JFK meeting a mermaid after his PT-109 crash. But this siren gives
him a choice.... A bit too much time was spent on the love story
for my tastes, and the whole idea of JFK and a mermaid is not my cup
of tea in any case.
Judith Tarr's "Them Old Hyannis Blues" is yet another
"entertainers" story--the four Kennedy brothers become the world's
biggest rock sensation, Elvis Presley is President, Marilyn Monroe
is a lawyer, and John Lennon is secretary of State. There are other
well-known personalities in unlikely positions, but on the whole
this offers nothing new over Waldrop's "Ike at the Mike," and the
Waldrop story was _w_i_d_e_l_y seen.
"Rosemary: Scrambled Eggs on a Blue Plate," on the other hand,
_i_s original. Co-authored by Alan Rodgers and James D. MacDonald,
this is probably more accurately categorized as a secret history
than as an alternate history (or alternate Kennedy). (The same can
be said for other works in this volume as well, but to say which
ones might be to give something away.) The distinction is that an
alternate history relies on facts contrary to our reality (e.g., JFK
ducks the bullet in Dallas and goes on to win a second term), but a
secret history gives a new interpretation to events and is not
contradictory to events in our world (e.g., JFK was actually an
immortal who staged his assassination to allow himself to move onto
a different identity). This story is told from the point of view of
Rosemary Kennedy, the retarded sister who had a lobotomy in 1941.
Rodgers and MacDonald propose an explanation for her condition, and
for a lot of other things as well, thought some readers may find the
story disturbing--as I'm sure the authors intended.
Brian M. Thomsen has two stories in this anthology. The first,
"The Missing 35th President," is in some ways similar to Laura
Resnick's "Fleeting Wisp of Glory," though here the sources for the
"history" are the supermarket tabloids rather than the village
story-teller. It's amusing, but insubstantial.
Barbara Delaplace's "Freedom" examines the same issues of power
as Malzberg's "In the Stone House" albeit in a much shorter form.
Were it not for the presence of Richard Nixon, this could be a
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 4
secret history of Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and perhaps it would have
been better that way. As it is, it's too easy to dismiss this as
fiction instead of thinking about whether there might be some
element of truth to what Delaplace describes, and what it means in
terms of how parents and children relate to each other.
"A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Harry
Turtledove is another non-alternate-history, a straight time-travel
story: what if druids sent JFK back to the _r_e_a_l Camelot? JFK may be
a bit overdone as a womanizer here (but maybe not; Turtledove
usually does his homework well), but Turtledove can always be
counted on for a good story with a well-researched background, and
if the Kennedy aspect is just the McGuffin that gets it in this
anthology, so be it. But it could just as easily have been Joseph
Francis Kropinski who was sent back.
In Mark Aronson's "President-Elect," Richard M. Nixon becomes
the 37th President in 1968. If this sounds like exactly what really
happened--well, read the story. Aronson takes you on a roller-
coaster to get there, and is convincing (at least on first reading-
-there may be some slips, but I didn't find any). Aronson has won a
lot of awards for creative advertising, and I can see why.
Pat Cadigan had a tough act to follow. Her "Dispatches from
the Revolution" in Resnick's _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s was the best in
that volume (it was nominated for a Hugo and stands a good chance of
winning) and was already an alternate Kennedy story. So I wondered
if she could live up to that reputation here. She does, with "No
Prisoners," which is once again the best work in the anthology.
(The title phrase in this context comes from a supposed campaign
slogan: "No quarter given, no compromise, and no prisoners," which
describes Cadigan's writing as well.) Many of the stories here are
alternate Kennedy (singular); Cadigan takes the plural to heart in
this story centering around two of the siblings, Eunice and Robert,
with guest appearances by several other alternate Kennedys. Like so
many of the stories, this one also looks at the control Joseph
P. Kennedy, Sr., exercised over his children, but Cadigan finds new
ways for them to escape it. Robert goes to the one organization his
father can't control--the Roman Catholic Church--and becomes an
activist priest. Eunice (and Patricia to a lesser extent) escape by
becoming politicians in their own right instead of the wives of
politicians. If at times the number of Kennedys and Kennedy
wannabes in "No Prisoners" threatens to overwhelm the reader, that's
a very minor flaw in another excellent work by Cadigan. Look for
this one at Hugo time next year.
Speaking of Kennedy wannabes, Mike Resnick's "Lady in Waiting"
is not about any alternate Kennedys per se, but about an alternate
Marilyn Monroe, a waitress named Norma Jean Baker. We've all known
someone like Resnick's Norma Jean, someone who doesn't quite
understand how it all works and who lives in a fantasy world.
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 5
That's probably why this story is so affecting--at first I felt it
was out of place in an alternate Kennedy anthology (and so it may
be), but it grows on you and stays with you long after most of the
other stories fade away.
"The Inga-Binga Affair" by Michael P. Kube-McDowell may be
based on well-documented fact, but it still didn't do anything for
me. The story implies that events in its world will proceed
differently from those in ours, but never actually shows us this,
and I was surprisingly disinterested that a young JFK was boinking a
suspected Nazi spy.
Rick Katze's "Bobbygate" puts the break-in to National
Headquarters in the 1964 campaign instead of the 1972 and had it be
the Democrats doing the breaking in. Oh, yes, and JFK was still
President--no mention of how that came about. Once again, it's
Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr., running everything, and somewhat better
than Nixon et al did in our world. But the story doesn't go
anywhere--it basically gives the reader the premise, fleshes it out
a bit, and then stops.
But even emptier of content is "Now And in the Hour of Our
Death" by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald. What if Kathleen
Kennedy had not died in a plane crash in 1948, but had survived and
retreated from the world to a convent under an assumed name? That's
it; that's the whole story. I think it might have worked in a non-
specific anthology, since it seems to lead up to the big surprise at
the end that the Sister is actually Kathleen Kennedy, but Resnick's
introduction removes any lingering surprise that might have been
there. (By the way, Resnick claims Kathleen divorced her husband,
but all other sources I checked say that he died four years before
she did and don't mention any divorce. In fact, she was buried in
his family plot.)
Nancy Kress's "Eoghan" (pronounced "Owen," and in fact the
"Eoghan Ruadh O'Neill" of the opening poem is frequently seen as
"Owen Roe O'Neill") is a fantasy explanation of how a family so
favored could become a family so cursed. The story begins in
Ireland with Patrick Kennedy, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr.'s
grandfather, preparing to leave Ireland during the Great Potato
Famine of 1848. Walking home one night he meets one of the _a_e_s _s_i_d_i
and gets from her a magical guinea. But its magic is as much in the
obligation it carries as in any gift it brings; for as the old woman
tells him, "Good fortune in yers, and yer sons', and yer sons'
sons', so long as ye use yer power to the good of the people who
look to ye. If not--." The rest of the story is mostly the story
of Patrick's journey to America, and his life there, and his son's
life, and on to his great-grandson John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his
encounter with the magical guinea. Kress is a consistently good
author (and is also nominated for a Hugo this year), and "Eoghan" is
worthy of her.
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 6
"'Til Death Do Us Part" by Charles Von Rospach (Better known to
Usenetters as Chuq) is another Marilyn Monroe story, but with a
touch of John Collier. Anyone familiar with John Collier's work
will understand this statement; everyone else should go read some
immediately. My enjoyment of this story was lessened by two
factors: 1) I am female and it seems a story written much more from
and for a male viewpoint (much as Connie Willis's "Even the Queen"
would seem to be from and for the female viewpoint), and 2) by this
point in the book, JFK's sexual escapades in general and trysts with
Marilyn Monroe in particular were getting boring. Still, some
clever ideas keep this story afloat and amusing.
Brian M. Thomsen's second story in this volume is "Gloria
Remembers," a deal-with-the-devil story involving Joseph P. Kennedy,
Sr., and remembered by Gloria Swanson. Swanson is totally
unnecessary to the story--she serves only to relate events which
could have been told by any third person, or even as third-person
omniscient. The idea here is the same as in numerous deal-with-
the-devil stories (it is perhaps best done in the film _B_e_d_a_z_z_l_e_d),
and this is one of the weakest of the stories in this volume.
Esther M. Friesner, on the other hand, takes almost precisely
the same idea and turns it into a wonderfully humorous tale in "Told
You So." You may see the climax coming before it hits you, but that
just makes it better, like watching the peak of a roller coaster
approach as you climb makes hurtling over the top more exciting.
And Friesner gives the reader a little bit extra after the climax as
well. Not earth-shaking, perhaps, but a wonderful bit of comic
relief.
Ginjer Buchanan is a very good editor, but "The End of the
Summer, by the Great Sea" does not mark an auspicious start for her
as a writer. I _T_h_i_n_k it says all the misfortunes of the Kennedys
are caused by their being objects in a treasure hunt by children
from another dimension. If this is the case, that makes this a
horror story to me and not the "very young, very enthusiastic
alternative" Resnick's introduction describes it as. "As flies to
wanton boys, are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport" (_K_i_n_g
_L_e_a_r, Act IV, Scene 1) was not intended to be amusing. It's
possible that Buchanan _i_n_t_e_n_d_e_d this as a horror story, but if so
the tone is all wrong--at least for me.
George Alec Effinger writes about "Prince Pat," Patrick Bouvier
Kennedy. (I actually remember Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, which gives
you some indication of my age.) At first glance, Effinger has
chosen 1963 as the turning point, but no, he has actually gone back
to a much earlier point (1941 is my guess) because only one of the
cousins Patrick Bouvier Kennedy relies on in his Presidential
campaign exists in our world, and for "Aunt Rosemary" to have had
children, her operation in 1941 would have had to have turned out
very differently. It's always dangerous to try to attribute motives
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 7
to a writer, but I wonder if the idea of the sickly baby battling
his way to health and success didn't have a special meaning for
Effinger, who has himself had serious medical problems.
Robert Sheckley, whose story in _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s had
Michael Dukakis meeting aliens from outer space, now gives us "The
Disorder and Early Sorrow of Edward Moore Kennedy, Homunculus," in
which the eponymous character meets the Martians. Sheckley's
stories all seem to have a manic paranoia to them, making them
somewhat Dickian (no, not Dickensian), but they also frequently seem
to have no point.
Rosemary Kennedy appears in more stories than you might at
first expect, but she is clearly the best example of how close some
of our alternate worlds are. A few millimeters in one direction or
another during her operation and she might have become a force to be
reckoned with, as she is here in "Rosemary's Brain" by Martha
Soukup.
And finally, we have "Winterberry" by Nicholas A. DiChario.
This, I believe, is a fitting closing to this anthology. I found it
affecting (as have others), although some level of me also found it
somewhat manipulative. Read it and judge for yourself.
One problem with _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s that surfaced somewhere
around story number six or so is that reading story after story
about the Kennedys can get pretty tiring. I would strongly suggest
that anyone reading this anthology try to do it in pieces, and read
other things between stories. (I, of course, had a review to get
out, and no will power, so I did not take this advice.)
Another slight stumbling block I had was that I was expecting
something different from what I got. As you may have noted, I
frequently comment on a story, "This isn't a real alternate
history." This is _n_o_t a negative comment: one of the stories I
liked best, "Eoghan," was not an alternate history, and another,
"Lady in Waiting," is just barely alternate history. But since the
title _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s led me to expect alternate history stories,
I note when the story is not one.
I had said in my review if _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s (also edited by
Mike Resnick) that "most surprising is the absence of the obvious
turning points. No one wrote about ... [John F.] Kennedy _n_o_t being
assassinated (any stories on the last may be being held for
_A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s)." Well, they weren't. There have been some
stories along this line already, of which the strangest is probably
_N_a_t_i_o_n_a_l _L_a_m_p_o_o_n's "Grand Fifth Term Inaugural Issue: JFK's First
6,000 Days" (February 1977) in which Jackie Kennedy died in Dallas
instead of JFK. (But there seem to have about as many with _R_o_b_e_r_t
Kennedy surviving his assassination attempt, including Pat Cadigan's
"Dispatches from the Revolution," Nelson W. Polsby's "What if Robert
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 8
Kennedy had not been assassinated (1968)," and William F. Nolan's
"The Worlds of Monty Wilson.")
On the whole this anthology is not nearly as strong as
_A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _P_r_e_s_i_d_e_n_t_s. I can recommend the Cadigan, the Rusch, the
Kress, the Mike Resnick, and the Malzberg, with the Gerrold and the
Friesner as being fairly amusing as well. Some of the others have
their points as well, but do not try to read too many at one time.
Think of it as a box of candy and have only a piece or two at a
time.
Kennedy Family Overview
They say you can't tell the players without a scorecard, so
here's a quick summary of the Kennedy family:
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (09/06/88--11/18/69) was married in 1914
to Rose Fitzgerald (b. 07/22/90). He was ambassador to Great
Britain from 1937 to 1940. They had nine children:
1. Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. (1915--08/12/44) was killed in
combat.
2. Rosemary Kennedy (b. 1918) was diagnosed as mentally retarded
and was lobotomized in 1941. What was supposed to have helped
her instead turned her mild retardation into severe
retardation.
3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (05/29/17--11/22/63) was almost killed
when his PT boat (PT-109) was sunk in 1943, but survived. He
married Jacqueline Bouvier (b. 07/28/29) on 9/12/53. JFK was
elected President in 1960 and assassinated on 11/22/63. They
had three children: Caroline Bouvier (b. 11/27/57), John
Fitzgerald Jr. (b. 11/25/60), and Patrick Bouvier who died in
infancy in August 1963. (Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle
Onassis in 1968; he died in 1975.)
4. Kathleen Kennedy (1920--1948) married the William Cavendish,
the Marquess of Hartington (who died in 1944) and was killed
in a plane crash.
5. Eunice Mary Kennedy (b. 1921) married R. Sargent Shriver (on
05/23/53); he was active in politics and was the Democratic
vice-presidential candidate in 1972. They have five children:
Robert Sargent III (b. 1954), Maria Ownings (b. 11/06/55, who
married Arnold Schwarzenegger on 04/26/86), Timothy Perry
(b. 1959), Mark Kennedy (b. 1964), and Anthony Paul (b. 1965).
6. Robert Francis Kennedy (11/20/25-06/06/68) married Ethel
Skakel in 1950. He served as Attorney General while his
Alternate Kennedys June 18, 1992 Page 9
brother was President and then as a Senator from New York. He
was running for the Presidential nomination when he was
assassinated on 06/06/68. They had eleven children: Kathleen
Hartington (b. 1951), Joseph Patrick II (b. 1952), Robert
Francis Jr. (b. 1954), David Anthony (1955-1984, of multiple-
drug ingestion), Mary Courtney (b. 1956), Michael LeMoyne
(b. 1958), Mary Kerry (b. 1959), Christopher George (b. 1963),
Matthew Maxwell Taylor (b. 1965), Douglas Harriman (b. 1967),
and Rory Elizabeth Katherine (b. 1968).
7. Patricia Kennedy (b. 1924) was married to the actor Peter
Lawford in 1954 and divorced in 1966. They have four
children: Christopher (b. 1955), Sydney Maleia (b. 1956),
Victoria (b. 1958), and Robin (b. 1961).
8. Jean Ann Kennedy (b. 1928) married businessman Stephen Smith
in 1956. They have five children: Stephen Edward
Jr. (b. 1957), William Kennedy (b. 1960, who was recently
acquitted of rape in Florida), Amanda Mary (b. 1967), and Kym
Maria (b. 1972).
9. Edward Moore Kennedy (b. 02/22/32) married Virginia Joan
Bennett in 1958; they were divorced in 1983. He was elected
to the Senate in 1962. On 06/19/64, he was in a plane crash
in which his back was broken. On 07/18/69, he drove his car
off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing Mary Jo
Kopechne. He staged an unsuccessful bid for the Presidential
nomination in 1980, but remains a senator from Massachusetts.
They have three children: Kara Anne (b. 1960), Edward Moore,
Jr. (b. 1961, who lost a leg to bone cancer in 1973), and
Patrick Joseph (b. 1967).
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