What do You think about Mr. Spaceman (2000)?
This novel felt more like a cobbling together of various character sketches that were languishing somewhere in Butler's desk/hard drive. Of course it was impeccably written, but the ultimate premise is so silly that it was hard for me to take seriously even some of the more weighty topics broached by the text, such as racism and genocide, as well as the futility of human existence. It was a fun read, but I don't know that I'd want to reread it, nor can I think of anyone in particular to whom I'd recommend it...
—Morgan
I had to give a presentation on Butler's writing during Morrow's "Innovative Fiction" class - the day Butler was visiting our class. This ended up being quite unfortunate; in preperation I read his two previous collections of short-stories, which I loved, but the book we were reading for the class, "Mr. Spaceman," was not only the worst novel we read durring the class, its one of the worst novels I've ever read. The plot is basically a sequil to one of his stories from "Tabloid Dreams," but what worked as 12 page fairy-tale died when stretched to a full novel. Cheesy, cloying, and utterly predictable, the subtle-as-a-sledge-hammer Christ imagery at the end pushed it over the top. And I had to figure out how to talk about it in front of a group of students without deeply offending the author. Awk-ward.
—Chris
...this book is making me laugh out loud! The Spaceman remnamed DESI by his wife, has to learn all he can about earthlings. He ends up marrying Edna Bradshaw who he calls, Edna Bradshaw, every time he refers to her, a hairdresser from Louisiana. I can see why the author starts the book out with humor. The 'meat' of the book is the life-changing events of the persons that have come to be on his space ship for this time. And where did they come from? A bus driving to a casino! The events that these people share with the spaceman are serious themes any debate team could use as topics. I think I will read this book again in the future and in the interum I am looking forward to reading his Pulizer Prize winning book.
—Linda
