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stoutfellowA number of years ago, one of the reviewers for - was it Analog or Asimov's? - wrote a column bemoaning the state of the mid-list, and recommending the works of several midlist authors. Among those he recommended was Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede, by Bradley Denton, which is a rather peculiar but enjoyable book.
The action of Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede begins on a winter's night in central Kansas. At about 1:00 AM CST, every television station in the world - broadcast, cable or satellite - is hijacked by a peculiar image: someone, closely resembling the thirty-years-dead Buddy Holly, is sitting on a bleak landscape, with the planet Jupiter visible behind him. He admits to being confused about his situation, but mentions that there is a TV camera facing him, with a sign reading as follows: "Welcome to Ganymede". At the bottom of the sign, in small print, are the words, "For assistance, contact Oliver Vale, 10146 South 163rd Street, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A." Buddy then begins to sing.
Oliver Vale, of 10146 South 163rd Street, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A. is decidedly upset about this, as he has no idea what's going on. He does quickly realize that the authorities will be at his door very soon, and it's time to hit the road. There are two possible destinations: a certain field near Clear Lake, Iowa - but he's been there before - and a gravesite in Lubbock, Texas. Oliver (who was conceived the very night, possibly the very instant, that Buddy Holly's plane went down) sets forth for Lubbock on his beloved motorcycle, Peggy Sue.
Thus begins a wild ride. Oliver is pursued by Federal and State police, the followers of a televangelist nicknamed "Bill Willy", a covert ops agent named Richter, and an enormous Doberman cyborg named Ringo; he is aided, after a fashion, by an aggressive and muscular young woman named Gretchen, the members of a motorcycle club, and a peculiar and precocious family whose connection to Vale is revealed about halfway through. Lurking in the shadows are Vale's obnoxious yuppie neighbors Cathy and Jeremy and the proprietors of a drive-in theater in El Dorado, Kansas, who bear remarkable resemblances to Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower, and (da-DUM!) the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
The story is intercut with Vale's reminiscences about his life, largely drawn from his mother's extensive journals. We get an interesting (and decidedly weird) picture of the Sixties and Seventies, in their glories and their horrors. His mother, estranged from her parents after Oliver's illegitimate birth, finally found solace in a peculiar and self-devised New-Agey cult of rock'n'roll; Oliver eventually came to the conclusion that she was crazy, but was himself deeply marked by her beliefs; whence his pilgrimage to Lubbock.
In many respects this is a simple Quest tale, but with some oddities. Oliver never makes it to Lubbock; he never finds out what was going on (though the reader does, to some extent); and he winds up back where he began, in Topeka. The experience has changed him, though, and for the better; and though (da-DUM!) the fate of humanity is still unresolved at the end, there are hints that the future is bright. But the real interest of the story is in its depiction of that tumultuous place that was the USA in the third quarter of the 20th century; the characters, strange and fun as they are, are largely secondary. (I will admit to great fondness for Ringo, who is possibly the most entertaining character in the book.) Most of the characters - Bill Willy, Richter, perhaps Gretchen, and several others - are fairly routine stereotypes; those that are not, with the exception of Oliver himself, are simply freakish (Dwight and Nikita among them). But it's a fun ride, with enough bizarrerie to keep the reader smiling (or sniffling) throughout.
The action of Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede begins on a winter's night in central Kansas. At about 1:00 AM CST, every television station in the world - broadcast, cable or satellite - is hijacked by a peculiar image: someone, closely resembling the thirty-years-dead Buddy Holly, is sitting on a bleak landscape, with the planet Jupiter visible behind him. He admits to being confused about his situation, but mentions that there is a TV camera facing him, with a sign reading as follows: "Welcome to Ganymede". At the bottom of the sign, in small print, are the words, "For assistance, contact Oliver Vale, 10146 South 163rd Street, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A." Buddy then begins to sing.
Oliver Vale, of 10146 South 163rd Street, Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A. is decidedly upset about this, as he has no idea what's going on. He does quickly realize that the authorities will be at his door very soon, and it's time to hit the road. There are two possible destinations: a certain field near Clear Lake, Iowa - but he's been there before - and a gravesite in Lubbock, Texas. Oliver (who was conceived the very night, possibly the very instant, that Buddy Holly's plane went down) sets forth for Lubbock on his beloved motorcycle, Peggy Sue.
Thus begins a wild ride. Oliver is pursued by Federal and State police, the followers of a televangelist nicknamed "Bill Willy", a covert ops agent named Richter, and an enormous Doberman cyborg named Ringo; he is aided, after a fashion, by an aggressive and muscular young woman named Gretchen, the members of a motorcycle club, and a peculiar and precocious family whose connection to Vale is revealed about halfway through. Lurking in the shadows are Vale's obnoxious yuppie neighbors Cathy and Jeremy and the proprietors of a drive-in theater in El Dorado, Kansas, who bear remarkable resemblances to Nikita Khrushchev and Dwight Eisenhower, and (da-DUM!) the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
The story is intercut with Vale's reminiscences about his life, largely drawn from his mother's extensive journals. We get an interesting (and decidedly weird) picture of the Sixties and Seventies, in their glories and their horrors. His mother, estranged from her parents after Oliver's illegitimate birth, finally found solace in a peculiar and self-devised New-Agey cult of rock'n'roll; Oliver eventually came to the conclusion that she was crazy, but was himself deeply marked by her beliefs; whence his pilgrimage to Lubbock.
In many respects this is a simple Quest tale, but with some oddities. Oliver never makes it to Lubbock; he never finds out what was going on (though the reader does, to some extent); and he winds up back where he began, in Topeka. The experience has changed him, though, and for the better; and though (da-DUM!) the fate of humanity is still unresolved at the end, there are hints that the future is bright. But the real interest of the story is in its depiction of that tumultuous place that was the USA in the third quarter of the 20th century; the characters, strange and fun as they are, are largely secondary. (I will admit to great fondness for Ringo, who is possibly the most entertaining character in the book.) Most of the characters - Bill Willy, Richter, perhaps Gretchen, and several others - are fairly routine stereotypes; those that are not, with the exception of Oliver himself, are simply freakish (Dwight and Nikita among them). But it's a fun ride, with enough bizarrerie to keep the reader smiling (or sniffling) throughout.
