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Big O Publishing Ltd 1978 (UK) ISBN 0 905664 12 4 |
Ballantine/Del Rey 1990 (US) ISBN 0 345 36186 5 |
| Funtopia review: | Somebody should make a movie of this one. There’s a new form of entertainment in town - the Feelies. You are placed in a capsule, wired up with electronic stimulators and drugged to the eyeballs, the better to live out your virtual-reality dreams. Be the Marquis de Sade, Billy the Kid, Thongar the Planet-Waster, or even Jesus if that’s your kink. Pick your fantasy from a catalog or have one tailor-made. Naturally, the Corporations charge a fortune for this ultimate luxury, but on the TV gameshows the top prize of the moment is a free lifetime Feelie contract. All you have to do is humiliate yourself in public – again and again and again – to win. And, should you finally climb into that capsule, you’ll discover that the Corporations haven’t quite mastered the technology, and your dream becomes a living (and dying) nightmare. A vicious satire on mass entertainment, corporate greed and media manipulation, probably Farren’s best novel. |
| Other reviews: |
The Trash Fiction site has a very cool page on The Feelies. |
| Other Information: | The US edition contains a number of passages which have been substantially rewritten from the earlier UK edition. |
| Author's comment | See Mick Farren's Collected Works. |
| Availability |
UK version out of print. Copies sometimes available from book search
sites, occasionally turn up in UK second-hand dealers, book fairs,
etc. US version easily obtainable via book search sites.
Find
The Feelies at Bookfinder.Com |
| Illustrations | The Big O edition is in large format and contains 11 illustrations by Chris Welch, reproduced here. |
| Excerpt (by permission) |
"Could I see your credit card for a moment, please?" Trumble pulled out his credit card and passed it across the desk. The girl's smile dimmed a couple of points. She turned the card over in her fingers. The impeccable fingernails clicked softly on the plastic. She looked at Trumble with a more in sorrow than in anger expression. "I see your rating is C minus, Mr Trumble" Trumble knew he was sweating. "Yes, that's right." "Well, Mr Trumble, you must realise that the kind of weekend you're talking about isn't exactly ... inexpensive." "Yes, yes, I've looked at the prices. I know all about them." He hesitated. "I've been saving up, you see. This weekend means a lot to me. I've been saving for a long time" Wendy turned up her smile. "I see. I'll have to check on that before I can make your reservation." Wendy dropped the card into the console. After a short wait, something flashed up on the screen. Trumble couldn't read it upside down, but Wendy's smile became even more radiant. "You have been saving, haven't you, Mr Trumble?" Trumble blushed. "I've been looking forward to this weekend for quite a while." "All we have to do now is pick the particular experience you have in mind." Trumble began to redden again. "I ... er." "Would you like to look through our listings of possible options, Mr Trumble?" Wendy offered him a thick spiral bound booklet with a plastic cover. Trumble could feel sweat running down from his armpits. He turned over pages at random. His thumbs and fingers felt twice their normal thickness. He glanced up. Wendy was watching him with a conspiratorial smile. "I think we already know the experience we want, do we, Mr Trumble?" Trumble knew it was now or never. If he didn't do it now he'd change his mind and blow his savings on some experience he didn't even want. It all came blurting out in a stammering rush." "I ... I want to be the Marquis de Sade." Without a word or the slightest flicker of expression, Wendy started tapping out yet another set of figures. Trumble sat frozen, amazed that he had actually done it. Wendy punched up his reservation. A receipt and a slip with date and time on it were printed out of the machine. Wendy handed it to Trumble with a cool, even look. "I'm sure it will be a very rewarding experience, Mr Trumble." |