The Pickup Artist | ||||||||
Terry Bisson | ||||||||
Tor Books, 240 pages | ||||||||
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A review by Lisa DuMond
Thanks to the violent efforts of a group of revolutionaries, the world has come to realize that the grand masters of
the arts are standing in the way of the would-be masters of the present and the future. In order to make room for these
upcoming geniuses, the work of artists of the past must be removed from sight and mind. Shapiro and his colleagues do just
that: it's their job to collect art whose time has come so that the art and the artist can be effectively erased.
True, it doesn't sound like the greatest occupation, but it's kind of an honour to enforce the law, and it's a job,
after all. That seems to be enough justification for Shapiro until a particular find sends him off on a quest that will
turn him into an enemy of his own agency. It's a journey unlike any you've experienced before, across a landscape both
alien and disconcertingly familiar. How and if Shapiro makes it through the chase provides the tension
throughout The Pickup Artist.
Comparisons to Fahrenheit 451 are inescapable, but readers will find the differences significant. The
Pickup Artist is heavily laced with wry humour and inside jokes about pop culture and the slavish worship of
the "classics." The characters Shapiro links up with along the way are the kind of people you wish only
existed in fiction -- quirky, outlandish, and larger- or smaller-than life.
One particular character embodies the best in all of us and provides a flawless mirror for the decline around her, all without speaking a word.
It's a heart-rending performance that imbues Shapiro with the dose of humanity his society and his job has leeched away.
Will it come to a point where people honestly believe the past must be erased to make room for the present? Some
people want to rewrite the past now. College graduates complain that there is no room for them in the work force. Censors
want to obliterate anything too challenging or controversial.
With book burnings and Jesse Helms in our history, how can we honestly say that a scenario like the The
Pickup Artist is really so far-fetched? Just keep telling yourself that.
In the meantime, make the most of your reading freedom and indulge yourself in the wild and unpredictable
world of The Pickup Artist. Really, has Bisson ever disappointed you?
In between reviews, articles, and interviews, Lisa DuMond writes science fiction and humour. DARKERS, her latest novel, was published in August 2000 by Hard Shell Word Factory. She has also written for BOOKPAGE and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. Her articles and short stories are all over the map. You can check out Lisa and her work at her website hikeeba!. |
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