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Unprofessional Writing
Energetic, fun, weird
The Box That Sold the World
What Does It All Mean???
What this is, is a long shaggy-bar story....

Gaudeamus
John Barnes
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Armies of Memory (Thousand Cultures)
The Sky So Big and Black (Meme Wars)
A Million Open Doors (Giraut)
The Duke of Uranium
Earth Made of Glass (Giraut)

ASIN: B000H2MGJ4

Book Description

Shatter the line between fiction and fantasy....The life of an award-winning novelist probably bears more resemblance to "normal" than most fans would want to believe. But every once in awhile, strange things are bound to erupt around those most equipped to document them.... so imagine what renowned science fiction writer John Barnes might do when he finds himself in one of the wildest, most rollicking hard-SF adventures to hit print in years.Barnes' college friend Travis Bismark always brought back plenty of great stories from his job as an industrial spy. This time, over a few beer- and coffee-fueled chat sessions, Travis unravels a tale about his current case too tall for even an SF author to believe: a Gaudeamus machine that bends physics in order to make possible both teleportation and time travel, and how it gets stolen--twice; a grad student-cum-prostitute who deals in telepathy-inducing drugs that let her "download" top-secret documents from her client's brains, a romp through Colorado and New Mexico during which each episode and character is more bizarre than the last; and the internet meme that seems to tie it all together.Barnes' playful commentary on Travis' story and his own life as a SF writer and drama teacher, interspersed with their everyday interactions with a group of funny, compelling friends, is related in a surprising and non-traditional narrative that blurs the line between fact, fiction, and metafiction.

Customer Reviews:

Unprofessional Writing.......2006-11-09

I've always liked John Barnes writing: Orbital Resonance, A Million Open Doors, PARTICULARLY The Man Who Pulled Down the Sky, just a long list of well-written books with excellent SF ideas. But about four years ago he ran into some sort of Block in his writing, and he's been doing brain candy for awhile. Gaudeamus, while having reasonably interesting dialog and at least one "indicated" character who is interesting (Travis), is so badly written that it's embarassing. By this I mean that it doesn't have any character development and the whole story is told by a hokey "reminiscence" trick, where Travis sits down and talks for an hour at a time, with all sorts of non-germane sidetracks. When the aliens show up, Travis and John (who is writing the adventure -- right?) are both drunk, which is supposed to explain any possible errors in the plot. The problem is that the "plot" just kind of passes by in a haze (...and then we saw the aliens land and they wanted to buy the Island of Manhattan! Ha, ha!) I hope John Barnes gets himself together again soon. I can't read this. (I skipped to the end to see what "happened": nothing.) Remember, I LIKE John Barnes, but some people reviewing this can't tell a non-plot when they see it and gave it a misleadingly high average rating.

Energetic, fun, weird.......2006-06-13

Gaudeamus is a very energetic, very fun, fairly weird novel. It is narrated by one "John Barnes", who is clearly very much like the author -- a writer, married to Kara Dalkey, teaching at a small Colorado university. An old college friend shows up on his doorstep, asking for a ride. It seems his friend, a private detective, is being chased by some bad guys. A series of narratives ensues -- mostly the friend Travis Bismarck, relating the stories of his latest investigation and the fallout, but also some Barnes relating his limited involvement in these events.

The story involves a web comic called "Gaudeamus"; something called the "Gaudeamus" effect: teleportation and lots more; a fabulous new drug, enhancing sexual experience and allowing telepathy, also called "Gaudeamus"; a reason all these things might be called the same name; aliens in flying saucers; a very sexy and very smart prostitute; defense contractors who actually turn out to be on the side of good; small liberal arts colleges; a really bad rock band; and the possible end of the world. Pretty much.

What can I say? It's lots of fun. Barnes is just a neat writer to read: he is one of those Kipling descendants who adopts a "knowing" attitude which gives his infodumps bite and interest and -- comfort? The novel keeps upping the ante (which Barnes acknowledges in a curious way in the text) -- mostly this works but possibly the final resolution is a bit too abrupt. So -- a very enjoyable read, not a great novel but fun.

The Box That Sold the World.......2006-04-18

The cover blurb for this book says "shatter the line between fiction and fantasy..." Well not quite, but this is a very funny and entertaining slab of experimental sci-fi. The fact that John Barnes inserted himself and his real-life friends into the story as characters is not really so innovative, but here he makes great use of irony and alternative storytelling techniques to poke fun at sci-fi stereotypes, and to make the reader wonder if the story should even be taken seriously. In short, Barnes' friend Travis appears and tells a wild story of an industrial espionage assignment, in which he uncovered a bodaciously wacky conspiracy of corporate goons, rednecks, hippies, drug pushers, an underground internet cartoon, and aliens who are trying to buy the world and liquidate the assets. All of this is built around a futuristic technology called Gaudeamus, which effortlessly powers all the advanced cultures of the galaxy, and which humanity is accidentally stumbling into as part of cultural evolution. A large cast of human and alien weirdos hold the fate of the Earth in their hands as they connive for control of the technology.

But since this is a second-hand story from Travis, the whole thing could be a whole lotta hooey, and everyone else in the book barely notices the doom-bringing drama. Barnes does a great job with this storytelling device, making fun of stock plot devices (such as the bad guy explaining his entire villainous scheme voluntary) while ironically using the same corny devices himself. Barnes also does a great job poking at the absurdity of trends in fandom and geekworld. At some points the plots and subplots in this book get a little too ambitious for their own good, and there are a few gaps and loose ends here and there. But this is a very funny novel built on upon a pretty offbeat premise, and it's one of the most creative uses of science fiction that you're likely to see for a while. [~doomsdayer520~]

What Does It All Mean???.......2006-02-22

Gaudeamus is a Latin phrase meaning, "let us rejoice." It is also a new technology, an interactive web cartoon, a machine that moves things about in time and space, a pill that makes sex incredibly good, and--oh yes--the title of this book. John Barnes is the author of the book, as well as the narrator and a leading, if passive character. John Barnes, the character, is a professor of drama at a small Colorado college, just minding his own business, when his old friend Travis Bismarck shows up.

As always Travis Bismarck needs a ride somewhere pronto, because he is involved in a scary adventure involving industrial espionage and much, much more. The plot degenerates from there, and involves sex, drugs, flying saucers, and possibly the end of the Earth as we know it. I won't spoil it for you--to find out how it ends you'll have to read it for yourself.

Now, here's the deal about this book. Author John Barnes is terribly clever and well read and knows all kinds of things about science and philosophy. According to his blurbs he is an outstanding author. I found the book seriously over-written, with pages and pages of cutesy dialog, obscure digressions, adolescent sexuality, confusing changes of perspective, and a seemingly endless list of characters. The book was hard for me to finish, but I finally did. But hey, you might like it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

What this is, is a long shaggy-bar story...........2005-09-07

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What this is, is a long shaggy-bar story, with a fictional version of the author as narrator. The protag is one Travis Bismarck, who appears to be a real-life friend of Barnes. The book opens with (literally) loopy scene-setting that circles around the actual start in amusingly recursive spirals, as Barnes old pal ficto-Travis, who is some sort of technical PI, relates his current case, and how it went weird.

Now, I'm assuming that Barnes's Real Life isn't too different (in its non-fantastic day-to-day details) than the fictional JB -- the broad outlines match, it isn't a very flattering portrait, and it's just easier to write what you know. I was pretty consistently entertained by Barnes "what is reality?" mind-games, but you might not be:

"I found that every now and then I'd be pulled out of the book by the character of John Barnes talking about being a science fiction writer. I couldn't help but wonder if he really thinks about SF conventions like that, or the fans, or the genre. Every time I came upon some Barnes POV stuff I'd get jerked out of the story. At times, reading the book was like peeking into someone's diary and wondering, would I get caught." -- Gayle Surrette, Google sfrevu.com

"Barnes has done a bang-up job creating a rich air of verisimilitude and a thickness of believable details. His self-portrait is unsparing and modest, even self-abasing, and the humility and skepticism of the narrator allow us easy entrance into the wacky doings described by Travis. Generous dollops of humor and satire-Barnes and Travis have a lot of wry opinions about academia, entertainment and other demented aspects of our culture-grease the telling as well." -- Paul Di Filippo at scifi.com, the best review I saw online.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for a cozy, clever, twisty, sexy, crackpot, meandering, recursive, wonderfully implausible piece of metafiction that's full of wisecracks and is just a whole lot of fun to read (plus, it's short!), go for GAUDEAMUS. A fine, semi-mindless read for a mental winter vacation. Caveat: if plot holes and logic-lapses offend you, Gaudeamus might not be for you. Then again, it moves so fast, you might not notice...

-- though few will miss the one where the Bad Guy is required [minor *SPOILER* WARNING] to overlook the *enormous* Rhodesian Ridgeback lurking inside the Good Guys' Range Rover...

Review copyright 2005 by Peter D. Tillman

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gaudeamus, Humorous Poems
Charles Godfrey Leland
Manufacturer: James R. Osgood
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PCEE0U

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Gaudeamus
Peter Morris
Manufacturer: Oberon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1840026677

Book Description

What if bed-hopping among university students was not just inevitable, but mandatory? A sexy, radical girl, an over-sexed jock, and an ancient professor of ancient Greek discover that with the lights off, a serious attempt to end discrimination can also be a very dirty joke. Peter Morris' new play is an all-American undergraduate sex farce.

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Gaudeamus: Novela (Libros Hiperion)
Jose Maria Conget
Manufacturer: Hiperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Libros virumque cano : gaudeamus : the gifts of John Nicholas Brown to the John Carter Brown Library, from 1924 to 1969 : a tribute on his seventieth birthday, 21 February 1970

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Libros virumque cano : gaudeamus : the gifts of John Nicholas Brown to the John Carter Brown Library, from 1924 to 1969 : a tribute on his seventieth birthday, 21 February 1970
Lawrence C. (Lawrence Counselman), 1884-1970 and Brown, John Nicholas (1900-) John Carter Brown Library. Related names; Wroth
Manufacturer: Providence, R.I. : Associates of the John Carter Brown Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GKNMWW

Gaudeamus Igitur "Therefore Rejoice" The Campaigns of the Canadian Army in the Second World War

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Gaudeamus Igitur "Therefore Rejoice" The Campaigns of the Canadian Army in the Second World War
A Donald McKay
Manufacturer: Bunker to Bunker Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1894255534

Product Description

The Second World War was the seminal event marking the lives of those who lived it. Yet today most people,especially the young, know almost nothing of it. This book sets out to redress the balance. In a scholarly and analytical, yet most readable account, the volume describes each of the campaigns, fought by the Canadian Army in that titanic war. It highlights the incredible deeds of courage and resolve accomplished by the young men of that army who achieved results far beyond their number. It should inspire young Canadians and illuminate an historic era for all.

Goudy Gaudeamus: In Celebration of the dinner given Frederic W. Goudy on his 74th birthday March Eighth 1939.

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Goudy Gaudeamus: In Celebration of the dinner given Frederic W. Goudy on his 74th birthday March Eighth 1939.
Goudy
Manufacturer: Printed for the Distaff Side
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OC1ILE

Gaudeamus Lieder Aus Dem Engeren Und Wei

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Gaudeamus Lieder Aus Dem Engeren Und Wei
Joseph Von Scheffel
Manufacturer: ADOLF BONZ & COMP STUTTGART
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PYBL6I

Historia de la vida del Buscon (Coleccion Gaudeamus ; 15 : Serie Oro)

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Historia de la vida del Buscon (Coleccion Gaudeamus ; 15 : Serie Oro)
Francisco de Quevedo
Manufacturer: Ediciones Acervo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Gaudeamus Igitur
Jirasek
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0837194695

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