Venus on the Half-Shell
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| 1970s paperback edition | |
| Author | Philip José Farmer as Kilgore Trout |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1975 |
| Media Type | Print (Paperback) |
Venus on the Half-Shell was first published in two parts beginning in the December 1974 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It is a science fiction novel attributed to the fictional author Kilgore Trout but actually written by Philip José Farmer. Kilgore Trout is a recurring character of many of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut and this book was first mentioned as a fictional work in his novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965). Farmer liked the idea of actually writing one of Trout's fictional works and got permission from Vonnegut to do so.
It is said that Vonnegut was "not amused" by Venus on the Half-Shell. Vonnegut was definitely upset by the popular belief that he was the author of the book, which he was not. This problem was solved by the book being reprinted under the Philip Jose Farmer by-line.
Venus on the Half-Shell asked the same existential questions and featured several of the same plot devices as the far more successful Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (including the annihilation of all life on the planet Earth and the hero's exodus to other planets). However, Philip Jose Farmer's book was published four years before Douglas Adams's first Hitchhiker's play was aired on BBC Radio in 1978.
The book claims that "the Bible" falsely accuses Merneptah, king of Egypt, of being the Pharaoh of the Exodus. However, the name "Merneptah" is not in the Bible, and the ruler of Egypt during the Exodus is called simply and only "Pharaoh."
Many of the unusual names used in the book are anagrams.
