Close Encounters With the Deity

✍ Scribed by Michael Bishop

• Publisher: Peachtree Pub Ltd
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 306
• Edition: First Ed
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

YA Bishop has the rare gift of clear expression and boundless imaginationhe is a dreamer of poetic dreams. Close Encounters with the Deity is a collection of his short stories that were originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, as well as in various other anthologies and periodicals. The book's unifying theme is man's concept of the Deity. Bishop's stories intermingle humor, horror, and awe in a manner similar to Vonnegut. In the title story, enlightenment occurs as the hero's space ship falls into a black hole. In Dogs' Lives,'' the main character fantasizes a trip through space accompanied by his cybernetic canine companion, flashing backwards and forwards through memories of childhood pet dogs' horrible fatesand their love and devotion to their human masters.The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis'' is written in chapter and verse format and relates the story of an extraterrestrial savior who is a giant praying mantis. The book should prove popular with young people, as Bishop seems to have a strong sympathy for them. His questioning of traditional religion is in every sense a healthy, vital return to the wonder we all felt when we lay on our backs and gazed up at the stars, wondering where we came from.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword: Religion And Science Fiction By Isaac Asimov i
Close Encounter With The Deity 1
Foreword: Religion And Science Fiction By Isaac Asimov i
Close Encounter With The Deity 1
Voices 15
A Spy In The Domain Of Arnheim 43
Love's Heresy 63
Storming The Bijou, Mon Amour 73
Dogs' Lives 91
A Gift From The GrayLanders 115
A Short History Of The Bicycle:
401 B.C. To 2677 A.D. 139
Diary Of A Dead Man 155
Scrimptalon's Test 169
The Bob Dylan Tambourine Software &
Satori Support Services Consortium, Ltd 183
Alien Graffiti 201
And The Marlin Spoke 217
The Gospel According To Gamaliel Crucis;
Or, The Astrogator's Testimony 247

✦ Subjects

United States African American Asian Classics Anthologies Drama Hispanic Humor Native Poetry Literature Fiction Fantasy Alternate History Arthurian Coming of Age Dark Epic Historical Criticism Magical Realism Myths Legends New Adult College Paranormal Urban Superheroes Sword Sorcery Science Short Stories