Book Review: Revelations by Barry N. Malzberg

Revelations by Barry N. Malzberg

Published 1972 by Warner Paperback Library

146 pages

Mass Market Paperback

This is an interesting Malzberg novel and it is the middle book in an unofficial trilogy that he wrote that was intensely critical of the modern (at the time) space program. This series of books started with his attempt to write a mainstream Science Fiction novel with Falling Astronauts and went gonzo in the end with Beyond Apollo.

On the surface, it seems that the focus of this novel is not the space program but a TV show that gives the book the title. Revelations is a Jerry Springer like show years before that circus was a thing. The host in this show Marvin Martin interviews people one on one and the show is about exposing their twisted and perverse secrets for ratings. This is an interesting set-up for a near-future sci-fi novel the problem is the author's passion at the time for questioning the space program. Malzberg told during our Dickheads podcast interview that he didn't like the unrealistic boy scout imagine that NASA and government portrayed of the astronauts. One could argue that played a role in the downfall of the space program that was one the world couldn't relate to as it changed in the late '60s.

The Rediscovery edition with BM's afterword was published in a curious window that afforded the author to take a victory lap when the novel appeared to predict the demise of the NASA space program during that window between Apollo and the space shuttle. Of course, NASA would rebound with the shuttle and the far more important work of the Voyager probes. The story-line of Walter Monaghan a former moon traveler was a distraction from the most interesting aspects of the story. To me, I wanted to know more about Hurwitz the producer of the show and the host Martin.

The way mass media turned misery into profit was something Malzberg nailed more than a decade before the gotcha TV shows were a big deal. It is all done with the aspects you expect from the gonzo new wave sci-fi authors. Paranoid unreliable narrators, sadistic psychosexual manipulation, horrible political realities and much much more. This is a quick read, and while I know the author considers it one of his best I don't personally think it holds up as well as Beyond Apollo. That one had psychic snakes on Venus but I still think that one holds up better. Still, it is worth a read for fans of genre fiction of the era.

Check the interview I did with Barry this year for Dickheads. He talks about this novel several times.