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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 5/14/93 -- Vol. 11, No. 46

MEETINGS UPCOMING:

Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509
Wednesdays at noon.

_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C

06/02 RED MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson
(Politics in Space Colonization)
06/23 CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh
(Non-European Futures)
07/14 SIGHT OF PROTEUS by Charles Sheffield (Human Metamorphosis)
08/04 Hugo Short Story Nominees
08/25 CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Iain Banks
(Space Opera with a Knife Twist)
09/15 WORLD AT THE END OF TIME by Frederik Pohl
(Modern Stapledonian Fiction)

Outside events:
07/31 Deadline for Hugo Ballots to be postmarked
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second
Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for
details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third
Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details.

HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 holly!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 quartet!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.

1. Hugo Factoid of the Week: Kim Stanley Robinson has been
nominated 10 times without winning (so far--he's up again this
year). Runners-up include Michael Bishop (8 nominations), Gene
Wolfe (7 nominations), and Bruce Sterling (7 nominations). Next
week: who has had at least two nominations and has the best
batting average for wins? [-ecl]

THE MT VOID Page 2

Mayor David Dinkins
City of New York
April 18, 1994
Dear MR. MARK R. LEEPER,

An examination of our database shows that although you are a New
Jersey resident you charged $23.37 at the Broadway branch of Tower
Records. Hence New York City had an opportunity to play host to
you on that date. We are very pleased that you chose our city for
your visit.

As you probably know, New York City is currently having a fiscal
crisis. Our residents are already highly taxed to pay for running
our city. As a resident of OLD BRIDGE, NEW JERSEY, you pay you
taxes to NEW JERSEY and enjoy the benefits of New York City
absolutely free and _g_r_a_t_i_s. And it is our pleasure to serve you
and to keep you safe while you are in our city. Now is the time to
show your appreciation. Your tax-deductible contribution to New
York City will be used to improve our city and to keep it the kind
of place you want to visit.

Yours truly,

Mayor David Dinkins

---------------------------------------------------------

Yes! I appreciate New York City and want to do my part
with a contribution of:
___$100 ___$200 ___$500 ___$1000

MR. LEEPER
AT&T--RM MT 3D-441
200 LAUREL AVENUE
MIDDLETOWN NJ 07748

THE MT VOID Page 3

3. In keeping with the grand tradition of occasionally mislabeling
the VOID, the last issue should have been Volume 11, Number 45, _n_o_t
46. [-ecl]

4. Reminders on discussion book availability: _R_e_d _M_a_r_s is available
in trade paperback. _C_h_i_n_a _M_o_u_n_t_a_i_n _Z_h_a_n_g, _S_i_g_h_t _o_f _P_r_o_t_e_u_s, and
_C_o_n_s_i_d_e_r _P_h_l_e_b_a_s are all available in mass-market paperback. _S_i_g_h_t
_o_f _P_r_o_t_e_u_s is available at the Old Bridge library as well. _W_o_r_l_d
_a_t _t_h_e _E_n_d _o_f _T_i_m_e is available in mass-market paperback, and also
at the Monmouth County (Headquarters, Extension, and Eastern
branches) and Old Bridge libraries. (Some of the others must be
available at the libraries as well, but I haven't had a chance to
look them up.) The Hugo short stories are available as follows:
"The Mountain to Mohammed" by Nancy Kress, "The Arbitrary Placement
of Walls" by Martha Soukup, and "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis
are in the April 1992 _A_s_i_m_o_v'_s. "The Lotus and the Spear" by Mike
Resnick is in the August 1992 _A_s_i_m_o_v'_s. "The Winterberry" by
Nicholas A. DiChario is in Mike Resnick's _A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _K_e_n_n_e_d_y_s
(available in paperback). I believe that the stories will _n_o_t be
available electronically this year, at least not for free. [-ecl]

Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzfs3!leeper

Critic, n. A person who boasts himself hard to please
because nobody tries to please him.
-- Ambrose Bierce

SIDESHOW by Sheri S. Tepper
Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-553-56098-0, 1993 (1992c), $5.99.
A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Evelyn C. Leeper

_S_i_d_e_s_h_o_w is set in the same universe as Tepper's _G_r_a_s_s and
_R_a_i_s_i_n_g _t_h_e _S_t_o_n_e_s, but thought it contains references to events in
those books, it is not necessary for you to have read them to read
_S_i_d_e_s_h_o_w. (For example, I have read _G_r_a_s_s, but not _R_a_i_s_i_n_g _t_h_e
_S_t_o_n_e_s.) _S_i_d_e_s_h_o_w is set on a far-future Elsewhere, a planet
dedicated to diversity. Each society on Elsewhere is free to chart
its own path and make its own rules, so long as it does not
interfere with any of its neighbors. This is similar to the
arrangement in Mike Resnick's "Kirinyaga" stories, but with one
major difference--no one can change to another society. If you are
born in a society which has child sacrifice or which keeps women as
slaves, you're stuck there. I found the various societies a bit too
obvious for my tastes: Molock has child sacrifice, Haifah keeps
women as slaves, Enarae was established by Guntoter and concentrates
on weapons and a rigid caste system with its own version of yuppies,
and so on. All this is overseen by the city of Tolerance and its
Enforcers, who "Attend to the Situation" when necessary.

All this is prefaced, in a manner of speaking, by a sequence on
near-future Earth in which a pair of joined twins are born whose
destiny is to save humanity. They eventually end up on Elsewhere,
where the inhabitants--who are all that remains of humanity after
the rest were taken over by the Hobbs Land Gods--are being
threatened by an unknown adversary. However, I found their story
during their time on Earth more interesting than that of the threat
to humanity and the digs at various groups on the near-future Earth
more convincing than those directed at the societies on Elsewhere.
When one sets up a fictional society for the purpose of satire, it's
too easy to leave the reader feeling the deck has been stacked.

For me, _S_i_d_e_s_h_o_w suffers from this and from the same flaw I saw
in _G_a_t_e _t_o _W_o_m_e_n'_s _C_o_u_n_t_r_y _a_n_d _G_r_a_s_s: a tendency to preach. I can't
say this is a bad book, but I can't recommend it either.

Capsule review: This is an old plot dusted off
and given some new life and a little bit of political
bite. Kevin Kline plays a double for the President
who is asked to be President. The film is pleasant
with a few emotional moments. Rating: high +1 (-4 to
+4).

The basic concept of the plot is an old and familiar one. A
commoner looks just like a famous person and suddenly finds he must
replace that person. Coming up with examples is almost a trivia
game itself: _T_h_e _P_r_i_n_c_e _a_n_d _t_h_e _P_a_u_p_e_r, _T_h_e _P_r_i_s_o_n_e_r _o_f _Z_e_n_d_a,
Robert Heinlein's _D_o_u_b_l_e _S_t_a_r, _K_a_g_e_m_u_s_h_a, _M_o_o_n _o_v_e_r _P_a_r_a_d_o_r. If you
want to press the point, there's also _R_e_t_u_r_n _o_f _M_a_r_t_i_n _G_u_e_r_r_e and
_S_o_m_m_e_r_s_b_y. The underrated science fiction film _Q_u_e_s_t _f_o_r _L_o_v_e
treats some of the problems of standing in as realistically as many
films more grounded in reality. Many of the recent body-switch
films also treat the subject. Of course, to make one of these
stories believable the writer has to come up with some contrivance
as to why the shape of the ear does not give the imposter away. As
Sherlock Holmes correctly points out, the shape of an ear is as
unique as a fingerprint. Certainly somebody photographed as often
as the President of the United States is could not long be replaced
by an imposter. However, that is the premise of _D_a_v_e.

Dave Kovic (played by Kevin Kline) is an exact look-alike for
President Bill Mitchell (played by guess who?). Dave runs a small
temporary employment office and occasionally picks up dollars
impersonating the President doing things like riding a pig at places
like local car dealerships. Then one day the Secret Service shows
up in Dave's living room asking Dave to impersonate the President at
a social function. (Even this seems very implausible in a world
where one wrong comment can ruin a politician's career.) The
President is needed elsewhere. The elsewhere is an illicit tryst
with one of his aides, and unfortunately the President suffers a
massive stroke. At the urging of two aides (played by Frank
Langella and Kevin Dunn), Dave agrees to continue his role as the
President.

Dave quickly finds out that President Mitchell was nobody to
admire. A small group of people are running the Presidency for
power and greed. Finding that the First Lady (played by Sigourney
Weaver) detests the President, Kovic decides to change policies.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of _D_a_v_e is the performance of
Frank Langella. Getting past the age when he can play dashing roles

Dave May 9, 1993 Page 2

such as Zorro and Dracula, he is turning to acting. In a bleached
crewcut he quietly steals scenes from Kline and Weaver. He has
learned the difference between acting hammy and having an
expressive face. Like Frederic March before him, he has made the
transition from depending on his good looks to having an expressive
face that is a study in itself. It seems even director Ivan Reitman
underrates the power of Langella's acting. In one notable scene
Reitman has the camera focused on Kline in the foreground. He then
sets the focus deeper to pick up a reaction from Langella in the
background, then again focuses on Kline to give him the viewer's
attention. But once the viewer's eye is on Langella it stays on
Langella through the scene, even though he is now out of focus.
Reitman has underrated the interest and magnetism of Langella's
expression. Kline plays his usual amiable self. Weaver does what
she can with a role that gives her very little to do until late in
the film.

_D_a_v_e is a light, pleasant film in the style of Frank Capra that
may be a bit politically simplistic. The view that there is
corruption in high places is undoubtedly true, but the view that a
simple non-politician using intuition could do better than an
elected President is questionable. There is some hypocrisy in this
populist pseudo-President who wants programs that will increase
Federal spending but who at the same time cheats on his own taxes--a
rather wry touch in Gary Ross's script.

Still, it is fun to see over two dozen celebrities and
commentators on government affairs commenting on this new President.
The most enjoyable cameo features Oliver Stone. And one more nice
touch: Kline's rendition of the song "Tomorrow" from "Annie" is the
first time I could ever make out all the words.

While not startingly original, _D_a_v_e is fun and well-made. I
give it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.