TROUT FISHIN'

While browsing in a new second hand bookshop/coffee bar recently (you can't mention books without coffee it seems, these days), I decided to glance at the science fiction section. I always look for an old paper back edition of Again, Dangerous Visions, an anthology of short stories edited by Harlan Ellison. I had enjoyed the first volume and haven't been able to find this long lost sequel. I haven't actually read any science fiction since my teens, back when I was a voracious reader. The original Dangerous Visions was here on the shelf but no sequel in sight. I was about to turn away but a title caught my eye. Venus on the Half Shell. I hadn't thought of this slim volume for a long time. I have an old, battered copy from 1976 that I've been moving from apartment to apartment over the years, but couldn't remember if I still had it out on the shelf at home. Trouble was, the book seemed to be mis-filed here in the shop. It was in the Philip José Farmer section. I pulled it off the shelf and was stunned to have a long lost secret revealed. Farmer was in fact the writer, not the mysterious Kilgore Trout. A bit of a history lesson is needed now. What follows is strange, but true.

In the early 70's, Farmer was having a bit of writer's block and decided to try his hand at writing as a different person. Farmer was a big fan of Kurt Vonnegut, who was quite popular at the time and (in my opinion) at his peak back then. In Slaughterhouse Five, a writer of cheap soft porn novels is mentioned and a brief excerpt is cited as part of the story. The mythical writer was named Kilgore Trout. The book cited was Venus on the Half Shell. I remember reading Slaughterhouse Five for school and was then amazed to find Venus in a store. It looked like some sort of joke and even had a picture of the mysterious Trout on the back cover (Farmer in a silly false beard). Back then I assumed that Vonnegut wrote it for kicks and so placed it next to my copy of Slaughterhouse Five thinking they went together. Apparently what really happened was that Farmer started to have a flood of ideas as the mysterious Trout and began jotting them down. He decided to try and write a complete book as the fellow. First he decided to actually get permission from Vonnegut himself. After two letters went without a response, he managed to get Vonnegut's phone number. Working up the nerve, he called him and explained his idea to write as Trout. Vonnegut was worried that the public would think the book a hoax -- but of course it would be! Farmer managed to convince Vonnegut to grant him permission with the restriction of not mentioning of Vonnegut's works or name in the story or on the cover. Farmer completed the story, found a publisher, and the rest is confusion.

Venus, the story, covers the life of Simon Wagstaf - a banjo playing, intergalactic space traveler, and his search for the answer to life's questions. Farmer/Trout is interested in philosophy and free will and the idea of predeterminism, and the space wanderer travels the universe to seek answers to these questions. His companions are a dog named Anibus, an owl he calls Athena and a beautiful female robot named Chworktap. The ship they ride is called the Hwang Ho, vaguely phallic in shape and powered by dying stars. The book is filled with many literary references -- some real (I'd bet not many sci-fi novels mention Balzac) and some concocted by the writer. The story's time span is enormous. Somehow Farmer manages to fit this all within the space of about 200 pages.

Vonnegut started to get mail asking about the book and soon grew tired of the topic in interviews. Vonnegut became annoyed by a misunderstanding of a comment made by another writer, who said that Farmer had planned to write the story whether Vonnegut agreed or not. Even though Farmer came clean on the deal and eventually told the press about the book, the mystery has still persisted. Farmer considered selling film rights to an interested producer who wanted to do an animated film of Venus with music by the Grateful Dead. He could have done so without Vonnegut's permission, but chose against it after Vonnegut asked him kindly not to and threatened to sue any producer who would fund it. Farmer actually wanted to write a whole series of books as Trout, but Vonnegut put a stop to that too. Vonnegut hasn't been able to stop his fans from attempting to imitate Kilgore. See the link below.

The book was originally published by Dell in 1974. I picked it up in 1976 for $1.25 -- 6th printing. Farmer eventually got the chance to release the book under his own name by Bantam in 1988 and this is the edition of the book that I recently picked up (originally $3.95 -- I got it used for $2.50). It contains a nice forward by Farmer explaining the whole thing and thanking Vonnegut for letting him release the Trout edition. He says that apparently Vonnegut has vague memories of the whole deal and even forgot Farmer's name when questioned about it. I would have to say I prefer the cover of the 70's edition. Chworktap is sexier and I dig the goofy picture of Farmer as Trout on the back. When I got home from the store, I was delighted to find my original copy perched on the shelf next to Slaughterhouse Five. They will have a new neighbor to travel through space and time with, and onto the next living room shelf. So it goes.

© 1997 Dean Sabatino

Kulture Links:

Amazon's listing for a later edition of Venus includes some reviews.
A pair of Philip José Farmer sites: choose from US or Australian.
Similarly, here's a pair of Kurt Vonnegut sites.
Vonnegut, from an interview on the topic.
Kilgore Trout has his own web presence. Looks like you can submit your very own Kilgore Trout stories.
Some comments on Ellison's Dangerous Visions series.
And of course, view Botticelli's Venus.