（外文电子版资料）Varley, John - In The Bowl.pdfVIP

file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20In%20The%20Bowl.txt VERSION 1.0 dtd 032900 JOHN VARLEY In the Bowl John Varley is from Texas. He lived in California most of his adult life and now makes his home in Oregon with his family. He started writing science fiction in 1973, is thirty years old, and one of the most interesting of the newer writers. A large number of people have been predicting great things for John Varley. He has the narrative gift which is to say that it is impossible to start reading him without getting caught up in the action behind his words. This, by itself, has always been an ability much prized among story tellers. But John Varley has something else. His thinking is the thinking of the seventies; and the ideas, the themes and concepts of his stories are those of the 1970s. In the Bowl-the story by him that follows-is a thematic story, but in typical Varley fashion, it is a thematic story that will pick you up by the ears and carry you away. Never buy anything at a secondhand organ bank. And while Im handing out good advice, dont outfit yourself for a trip to Venus until you get to Venus. I wish I had waited. But while shopping around at Coprates a few weeks before my vacation, I happened on this little shop and was talked into an infraeye at a very good price. What I should have asked myself was what was an infraeye doing on Mars in the first place? Think about it. No one wears them on Mars. If you want to see at night, its much cheaper to buy a snooperscope. That way you can take the damn thing off when the sun comes up. So this eye must have come back with a tourist from Venus. And theres no telling how long it sat there in the vat until this sweet-talking old guy gave me his line about how it belonged to a nice little old schoolteacher who never . . . ah, well. Youve probably heard it before. If only the damn thing had gone on the blink before I left Venusburg. You know Venusburg: town of steamy swamps and sleazy hotels