American Beauty PB

This collection of ten short stories is the fourth book of short stories by the author. As usual, I enjoyed all the stories, they are very entertaining and some are downright very funny. I am eagerly waiting for the next collection of stories.

Any anthology that introduces the content as Mishegos (the Yiddish word for "a collection of things") can be looked upon as a warning for genre specialists or a delight for generalists. The AMERICAN BEAUTY consists of ten science fiction tales mostly from the last five years, but none earlier than 1992, that run the gamut of science fiction, but share several traits. The stories center on present or future America, but through a weird looking glass. Each contribution is fun to read and typically turns on its head via opening the jugular inside a value or a famous novel. Oy! vey! Alternate universes where marijuana flows legally, Tom Swift rides rockets again, and romantic robots courting aside, Allen Steele displays his chutzpah with this delightful book.Harriet Klausner

American Beauty (2003) is the author's fourth collection of stories. These ten stories are all related in some way to contemporary America. Agape Among the Robots is a story of robots absorbing love through example. Her Own Private Sitcom is an extension of the idea that the world is a stage. Green Acres is an alternate history of the hemp plant in this country. Missing Time is a multiverse/time travel story in which the Mayor gets to second guess his actions. Graceland is a Riverworld tale about the immortality of rock music. Jake and the Enemy is a story of a dog protecting his turf from a robot. Warning, Warning is an explanation, of sorts, for the TV show Lost in Space. The Fine Art of Watching is a tale of the difference between surveillance and perception. A Walk Across Mars makes a case for the media not always telling everything it knows. Tom Swift and His Humongous Mechanical Dude is an indictment of current parenting techniques. I must admit that the author's short stories often unsettle me to some extent. He does have a way to approaching things from an unexpected direction, but that is an admirable trait in any author in any genre. However, he sometimes put an extra sharp edge to his scalpel that cuts a little too deep for my taste. His short works are not very pleasant at times, but make good points. Recommended to Steele fans and anyone who enjoys satire with a sharp edge and a bit of refined wit.