The Good Humor Man: Or, Calorie 3501

by Andrew Fox

In this satiric romp inspired by Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 , set in 2041, government-sanctioned vigilantes--the Good Humor Men--ruthlessly patrol the streets, immolating all fattening food products as illegal contraband. A pound of real chocolate is worth more on the black market than a kilo of cocaine. Evil "nutraceutical" company MannaSantos controls the food market with genetically modified products, such as "Leanie Lean" meats. But the craze for svelte healthfulness has reached a critical turning point, as a mysterious wasting plague threatens to starve all of humanity. A lone ex-plastic surgeon and founding Good Humor Man, whose father performed a secret liposuction surgery on Elvis Presley, holds the key to humanity's future. In a mad dash to retrieve his family heirloom--the mortal remains of the King's belly fat--Dr. Louis Shmalzberg becomes entangled with a civil servant of questionable motives, an acquisitive assassin from a wealthy Caliphate, a power-mad preacher evangelizing anorexia, a beautiful young woman addicted to liposuction, and a homicidal clone from a MannaSantos experiment gone terribly wrong. Can Elvis save the world sixty-four years after his death?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1892391856
• ISBN13: 9781892391858
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Tachyon Publications
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic! I love this author's work.

This is a unique work, and in our generic world, that is a tremendous compliment. I've been meaning to write this review for a while, but what spurred me on just now was learning THE GOOD HUMOR MAN has just been chosen by BOOKLIST (the American Library Association's journal of reviews) for one of the ten best SF/Fantasy novels of 2010! It totally deserves this. To throw my two-cents of authorial analogues, I'd say a combination of Joseph Conrad and Franz Kafka with a soupcon of Orwell (and for two-cents more I'll say that I liked the cover.) I've also read Fox's vampire novels, and adored them. I read the first while in the midst of a bad break-up, but in Jules Duchon (hero (or antihero) of both novels) I found a pal I wanted to be with who helped ease the pain with his companionship. Andrew Fox is an author I'll read again, any time.

Elvis, cheese, liposuction and the Hall of Presidents.

If Hunter Thompson and Ray Bradbury had a secret love child, Andrew Fox would've been it, and this book the testament to that wild night of love. What else do you need to know? Food has become the disease; elderly plastic surgeons are the cure, and Elvis may be the key to humanity's future. You may be scratching your head, which is good, because the only way to relieve that curiosity, is to read this highly engaging and unique vision by Mr. Fox. Pick up this book, and you won't be disappointed. You might even go on a diet.

The Good Humor Man hits close to home

Fox creates yet another novel so easy to read and hard to put down it's like candy. There are some big messages here underlying the sci-fi and humor, about agribusiness and health. Definitely a worthwhile read!

Wonderful book!

On the surface this is a whiz-bang science fiction story filled with mad scientists, car chases, shady foreign nationals, illegal plastic surgery, homicidal Elvis impersonators, gun battles, and at least one truck full of burning cheese. The characters are well-developed and there are enough "holy crap" plot twists to keep you turning pages well past your regular bedtime. It's also a vision of the future so grim and so easily believable that it scares the hell out of me. The threads that Fox has used to weave together this tapestry of economic apocalypse, social oppression, and scientific hubris are clearly visible in today's culture. The underlying message seems to me to be, "Hey folks, let's ease up on the fat people. We may need that biodiversity again someday. In fact, it may be the fat who'll inherit the Earth rather than the meek." So, pass me another of those fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, then go and get your hands on a copy of this book.

A Great Novel with a So-So Cover

In the tradition of John Brunner and Phillip K. Dick, Andrew Fox has created a world in 2041 where the health food trend today has been taken to an extreme in a sly novel that nonetheless takes itself seriously. He develops flawed characters whom you care about, battling over ludicrous items, such as a jar of Elvis' fat, which will oddly make sense to the reader. Even the lesser characters get their humanity. Having read Fox's first two novels before this, I'm continually amazed at the uniqueness of his worlds and his characters, and how they stick in my mind long after I've finished reading.