Sharyn McCrumb, Bimbos of the Death Sun
Ballantine Books , 1996 (reprint of 1988 original))
ISBN-13: 978-0345483027
I recently read something that encouraged me to re-read Sharyn McCrumb's fourth mystery novel (which won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original), which I remembered as an extraordinarily good book. The sequel, Zombies of the Gene Pool, while OK, was not nearly as good (according to my memory). McCrumb then left Jay Omega behind to concentrate on the Elizabeth McPherson books, and, later, the Spencer Arrowood books.
My re-read of Bimbos did not turn out well. While the book is well written, and the plot holds together, I was somewhat surprised to discover that there were only a couple of more-or-less sympathetic characters in the book--Marian Farley (who teaches a course in science fiction as literature and is Jay's love) and the Scottish folk-singer Dory McRory (who is stuck in the hotel for the weekend and really wants as little to do as possible with the strange folk he finds all around). By and large, the depiction of the organizers and attendees of Rubicon--the con being held in the hotel--shows them as people without lives outside the world of fandom, as unpleasant or narcisistic or both, as unattractive and unlovable.
And the main focus of the con, best-selling author of Celtic fantasy novels, Appin Dungannon, is a mean-spirited, nasty piece of work who hates not only his fans, but his work, and, it seems, himself. Even Jay, who is portrayed in a relatively neutral manner, does not compel our attention (even if he does, with Marian's help, unravel the mystery). The book remains funny, and the narrative is fairly strong. But, in the end, I was struck more by the mean-spiritedness than by anything else. (I will note that I quit reading the McPherson books with Missing Susan, by which time it seemed to me that McCrumb had tired of the character and wanted her to go away. I never started on the Arrowood books.)
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I hear you! I had the book on my "almost perfect" shelf from the time I first encountered it at a convention in the early 1980s, but then I re-read it this year and was struck by the mean-spiritedness . . . of that Marian, actually. She really rips a new one for herself when she rags on the fat girl in the costume contest. Yay for the courage to be in the contest at all, fat girl, and who's to say WHY someone is larger than others? The speech Marian makes about how she "used to think she was special, but then she realized she was just like the mundanes" is nauseating. Ugh! I thought the con crawlers were more charming. It's sad how differently I perceive the book now. Who knows why. I kinda liked Appin Dungannon, who is supposed to be (obviously) Harlan Ellison. I can just see HE telling his shooter, "That, young man, is an out-of-period weapon." Hee! But anyhow, the people you were supposed to identify with I did NOT, and the people you were supposed to mock I liked. Go figure.
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