Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede

If you like a healthy dose of humor (and not a little music history) injected into your SF, I highly recommend Mr. Denton's 1992 Campbell Award-winning novel. Denton makes the reader care about an imperfect, psychologically flawed protagonist who, by the end of the novel, reaches a remarkable (but not unrealistic) level of satisfaction and self-awareness. His secondary characters are well-developed and the reader might appreciate a couple of them even more than the main character. Denton addresses a number of issues: the influence of television and passive entertainment on society, religion vs. morality, and the dangers of blindly siding with one point of view. He gives the reader something to think about, but doesn't preach or beat the reader over the head with his opinion. Specific human interests allow "Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede" to be engrossing, compassionate, and entertaining. Denton's love of music, dogs, and motorcycles is enough to touch the reader, even if that particular affection is not something shared in common. This title is no longer in print (unjust world!), but it's most certainly worth the effort to find a used copy.

I was born and raised about 10 miles from where Bradley Denton went to high school and that location in Kansas is the scene of the climax in this extremely funny and bizarre SF novel. Denton is a brilliant writer, simply put. He creates believable characters with whom it is incredibly easy to empathize, then places them in extremely surreal and unimaginable situations. The result is a modern nod to Heinlein with humor and violence running hand-in-hand to point out the foibles and hypocrisy of modern society. These themes are common in all of Denton's novels and short stories, but this particular book brings it home in a much funnier story. Of course, the impact of the book is even stronger when some of the action literally travels down a street you grew up on and comes to a climax in the local drive-in theater where you spent many a hot summer night as a youth. At any rate, fans of classic rock'n'roll who also enjoy brilliant science fiction will love Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede. Bring the popcorn!

Although my generation is much more rcent than the rock and roll legends of this book, I found the novel entertaining, exciting, suspensful, and with a great sense of humor. Even rock-and-roll fans, if not sci-fi fans, should read this treasure!