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VarleyLog

We Bought a Tesla!

Here’s what happened. Lee came across what looked like a tiny, yellowing IOU at the bottom of some ancient records. It was from the Tooth Fairy, and she said she was a little short of cash and would pay me a dime the next night. It was dated May 8, 1954. I was seven! She’s still in business, you know, the Tooth Fairy, so Lee tracked her down and demanded payment. The old biddy was not ...

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Looking Back

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Watts

David Crosby kindly comped us to a couple tickets to the Crosby, Stills, & Nash concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the fourth or fifth-to-last appearance on their 2005 American tour. So on September 10 we got up bright and early and motored on down 101 to Hollywood, where we’d booked a room at our old standby, the Motel 6. It was a little hard to find it; 99% of Motel 6s are ...

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Novels

Slow Apocalypse

Despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as 9/11, the United States’ dependence on foreign oil has kept the nation tied to the Middle East. A scientist, bent on revenge for the death of his lover who was waiting for him at Windows on the World when the hijacked airplane hit World Trade Center, has developed a virus that feeds on petroleum, turning it solid. But he ...

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Movie Reviews

Ricki and the Flash

Four Oscar winners right up front. Written by Diablo Cody, directed by Jonathan Demme, co-starring Kevin Kline. And of course starring the incredible Meryl Streep. She is a rock singer who abandoned her family a long time ago to follow her dream. She had one album that went nowhere, and now fronts a group of oldies but goodies in a medium-sized dive in Tarzana, where they have been the ...

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Collections

The Persistence of Vision

This is Varley’s first story collection — a multiple award winner. It won the Locus Award and the Prix Apollo for Best Single Author Collection. The title story also won a Locus Award and a Hugo and a Nebula. Five other stories were near awards.

PBS turned “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” into a 3-(out of ...

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Short Fiction

The Phantom of Kansas

Art can take many forms, some more obvious than others…

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Titan: An Overview

A Short Overview of Titan

Here's a very short but quite impressive video made by Jean-Paul Verne, a fly-through of Gaea from my trilogy. M. Verne wants to be involved if a movie ever gets made. Over the years many, many people have written to me wishing these books would be made into a movie. Naturally, I'd like that, too. Let's hope this is not as close as we'll ever get.

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Accidental Hippies

Accidental Hippies

Sometime not long after my high school graduation I was studying at Michigan State University when my long-time girlfriend dumped me. I entered such a state of depression that I could not continue in college. So I dropped out and decided to hit the road with Chris Kingsley, my best friend in the world. Chris had much more experience of life on the road than I did, had actually hitched to ...

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