Spider Robinson begins his book by defining exactly what the “Crazy Years” are. To do this review justice, I think I must do the same. Forgive me for the long quote.
“In 1939, the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Robert Anson Heinlein, produced one of the first of the many stunning innovations he was to bring to his field: he sat down and drew up a chart of the history of the future, for the next few thousand years…
“And in Heinlein’s Future History chart, the last decades of the twentieth century–the ones he wrote abut and discussed as seldom as possible–were clearly and ominously marked: ‘the Crazy Years.’
“I discussed this with him several times before his death in 1988. He had decided–half a century in advance–that a combination of information overload, overpopulation and Millenia Madness were going to drive our whole culture slug-nutty by the end of the century.”
— pg. 4, “The Crazy Years: A Mission Statement”
Well, when you’re right, you’re right.
Some science fiction readers will find this book a waste of time, I have no doubt, as the book hardly ever discusses science fiction. The book features articles written by Mr. Robinson for Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, in which he holds a mirror up to modern humanity and exposes us for the absolute mental patients we are. No logic. No imagination. Incomprehensible in our foolishness.
For instance, at one point about a third into the book, while–I must admit–becoming a bit bored with reading yet another article railing against the antismoking nazis, Spider slips in an actual recipe for safe, non-carcinogenic cigarettes, nicotine and all, and I stop cold. “Oh. My. God,” I think. “Why hasn’t anyone ever tried that? WHY HASN’T ANYONE EVER TRIED THAT?”
Think of all the bullshit that goes with smoking: the health problems, the bitching about second hand smoke, antismoking lobbies, those horribly offensive commercials, etc. All gone. Just make them safe. It can be done. Why hasn’t anyone tried that? And I asked that same question over and over and over again as he talked about computers, religion, social mahooha, the environment, space, and yes, on rare occasion, science fiction.
How do I review a book like this? Will you like it? I guess that depends largely on your political views in some cases and the limits of your imagination in others (though this book concerns current events, a science fiction writer did pen these articles, after all).
I can tell you this: Spider is funny, and he’s smart, and you can’t go wrong with a combination like that. Warren James, host of Mike Hodel’s Hour 25, says that science fiction allows us to see the world through another set of eyes. Take a chance and take a look at world through the eyes of the Spider.
Rating: 4 out of 5
The Crazy Years: Reflections of a Science Fiction by Spider Robinson
Published by: Benbella Books; November 28, 2004
ISBN: 1932100350
Genre: Reflections of a Science Fiction Original
Author’s Webpage: www.spiderrobinson.com
