Gun, with Occasional Music

By: Jonathan Lethem

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems - not the least of which are the rabbit in his waiting room and the trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is an ominous place where evolved animals function as members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage.

In this brave new world, Metcalf has been shadowing the wife of an affluent doctor, perhaps falling a little in love with her at the same time. But when the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in the crossfire in a futuristic world that is both funny - and not so funny.

©1994 Jonathan Lethem (P)2009 BBC Audio

Critic reviews

"This colorful first novel is a fast and lively read, full of humorous visions and outlandish predicaments." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[A] sparkling pastiche of Chandleresque detective fiction displaced to an almost comical postmodern landscape." ( Booklist)
"Marries Chandler's style and Philip K. Dick's vision...an audaciously assured first novel." ( Newsweek)

Strange and Totally Engaging

I heard about this book on NPR it did not disappoint. Strange, engaging and worth the listen!!

Narration is dull, the story is weird

There's a lot of good potential for the story. Unfortunately, the story doesn't expand on the good ideas. I feel like even the narrator wasn't thrilled about this and wanted to get it over with.

Well worth your time!

Glad I found this gem of a book. The writing is fun, funny, & creative as hell; and Nick Sullivan does an excellent job narrating.
Well worth your time!

Creative Dark Future Noir

The story is set in a retro future with land lines, phone books, and specialized cocaine. I loved the silliness and the satire, but it never reached beyond it's genre of noir. It would be fun if this was a series, but its not. It goes to show Lethem's ability to make you feel like there are many other stories to tell in this world, and he paints the picture quickly enough that you can step into it within the first hour.

My favorite aspect of the world were the science experiments the government or powers that be were enacting on the population and how they were almost not vital to the story. Letham is able to use walking talking animals in place of Dick Tracy villains but describes each wrinkle the same way the comic strip did with lots of tiny lines.

The narrator's performance is slow and simple for my taste and often had strange inflection. I think the story would have suited a subtle performance rather than the gum shoe cartoon voice that's used. As with many of noir titles in first person, the narrator's often have gruff voices that make their children and women character voices conjure images of men in drag with fake high pitched voices.

All in all, good fun.

Such promise, but left with a smoking gun

There were some of the most creative elements in this novel and the author did a commendable job blending sci-fi with the noir detective style but in the end, I never grew to feel for any of the characters.

Such a clever idea but that's all

There's no denying the quality of Lethem's writing. His mimicry of the hard-boiled, Raymond Chandler type, simile-swinging detective is spot on. The novel's concept is clever and engaging--at first. After the first surprise of discovering the old-fashioned PI juxtaposed with a dystopian society, I found the story gets old, the characters are trite and undeveloped, and I got bored.

Satirical dystopic noir

The world and the main characters internal monologue are worth the price of admission alone. The story itself is okay.

Well done my friend!!

He is such a fantastic author and they chose just the right narrator for the story!!

Brilliant noir sci-fi

So much more than a PKD/Raymond Chandler mash-up (but that too). It really does deliver all the best elements of both.

SF SLAMS into a hard-boiled, noir pulp!

Science fiction slams into a hard-boiled, noir pulp (imagine 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' written by Chandler and directed by David Lynch'). Fun, quick and in parts even close to brilliant.