Mr. Spaceman

Robert Olen Butler

11/11/2000

Instead of "Books I've Read", this novel falls under the category of "Books I Tried to Read and Gave Up." After reading at least a third of it I went out and read some reviews, read the jacket , and tried to get a feel for what I was supposed to be reading. It didn't help. Finally, I gave up and flipped to the end. That didn't help either.

An alien from another planet has been circling Earth for about 50 years studying humans. As this story begins, he has just transported a busload of twelve people heading to Reno to gamble. After he learns from them, he plans to visit Earth himself and reveal himself to the people on Earth as the millineum strikes.

Supposedly this book is a study of humans (Americans, obviously. Desi, our alien, only seems to know American commercials, culture, etc.) He learns about religion and feelings. He marries an Earth woman. He is supposed to reveal himself to humans on Earth at a high profile time, then disappear back to his own civilization. This is so people know we are not alone in the universe and to give us time to work together before we face the worlds beyond.

I found it disjointed, difficult to read. Desi is not great philosopher or has any insights. This book is written from his viewpoint (narrative). The people from the bus are not overly awed at meeting a spaceman. The ending is no surprise once the final location to show himself has been chosen and rather dumb, in my opinion. I say that this is not a book to bother with.

There are more reviews of this book at . Some people there agree with me, others do not.