Rating: 
Summary: Not quite Neal Stephenson ... yet
Review: "Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy" (which I said in full anytime anyone asked me what I was reading) is without doubt a very enjoyable read. The three page or so summary of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is worth the purchase price alone. However, the reason it didn't rate higher is, as Harry Gant would have said, a lack of "neatness." Don't get me wrong, it almost is a "neat" little package. Just almost though. But very good ... and a hell-of-a-lot of fun to describe to people what the hell the book's about.Please feel free to zap me comments (or better yet book suggestions).
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing like a good read
Review: I tried to describe this book to a friend of mine. It came out something like this: "Well, there's this woman and a lamp with the spirit of Ayn Rand, and her car has Abbie Hoffman's -- well, just read the book." When pressed, I described the first chapter. A young man from the sticks, comes to the big city. He's got a fresh new start, a blank slate of optimism, and gets a job for the New York Sewer System's Zoological Division. One his first day of work, he meets his new teammates, makes friends with them. Gosh this guy is nice! They hand him grenades and gas masks. They go by boat into the sewer with an android on the front sniffing the air. The farm boy, which by now you've come to like a lot, shows his new watch off -- plays 60 different orchestrations. He's playing Bolero for the crew. Suddenly he's eaten by a great white shark. End of chapter, but the begining of a marvelous read. Keep an open mind, remind yourself of the willfull suspension of disbelief, and enjoy the ride
Rating:
Summary: An Illuminatus Trilogy for the millenium
Review: This book drove my ex-wife crazy. I couldn't resist describing passage after passage to her. The image of Abbie Hoffman and Ayn Rand locked in eternal dialectic embrace alone was worth the cover price. Mostly, I was reminded of the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, although Sewer, Gas and Electric is more of a 'page-turner'. I hope my order for "Fool on the Hill" gets processed (it's out of print), I can't wait to read more by Mr. Ruff..
Rating:
Summary: Tom Robbins has retained his youth and vitality
Review: Matt Ruff's cartoon filled novel is the 1990's version of Tom Robbins "Another Roadside Attraction". Ruff's attractions are numerous,nefarious and generally neo-modernistic.
The end result is sidesplitting amusement for the youthful minded and ever-young reader. I highly recommend this book for entertainment and for enlightenment (with the emphasis on 'light').
Rating:
Summary: The Great American (Cartoon) Novel...Almost
Review: An AMAZON.COM reader who saw my paragraph on SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson, recommended SEWER, GAS & ELECTRIC -- for which I am terrifically grateful. SG&E is a comic SciFi satirical novel. Ruff's take on Ayn Rand is sort of a spoof but evolves into something more -- certainly not an encomium but rather a questioning of that great lady's miniaturized "ghost" in a way she herself would have never put up with in life, I have no doubt. The novel teems with astounding and memorable characters. Philo Defresne, captain of the Yabba-Dabba-Doo (a pink-and-green spotted submarine that bearing "a living cargo of castaways and endangered species," and roaming "the East Coast shipping lanes doing embarrassing things to people and institutions that were reckless with their effluvia" -- is, with his ship, the most memorable of the lot. He is also the last Black person left on earth, having been under the sea when a virus was loosed that turned the rest to dust before they could even be buried. Unfortunately, not all the other characters are as well drawn and memorable. And the book seems to have started out in one "direction" and moved restlessly off in first one then another direction. Tighter editing? Maybe. But SEWER, GAS & ELECTRIC is a minor masterpiece, warts and all. I loved it
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly fun and intelligent
Review: By the end of chapter one, I was rolling on the floor. And things just got better from there. Matt Ruff's characterization of Ayn Rand is very funny. Although I consider Atlas Shrugged itself to contain some generous helpings of satire, Ruff's style is more affectionate. It has excellent literary tension as well. I was up all night reading it
Rating:
Summary: Nothing like a good read
Review: I tried to describe this book to a friend of mine. It came out something like this: "Well, there's this woman and a lamp with the spirit of Ayn Rand, and her car has Abbie Hoffman's -- well, just read the book." When pressed, I described the first chapter. A young man from the sticks, comes to the big city. He's got a fresh new start, a blank slate of optimism, and gets a job for the New York Sewer System's Zoological Division. One his first day of work, he meets his new teammates, makes friends with them. Gosh this guy is nice! They hand him grenades and gas masks. They go by boat into the sewer with an android on the front sniffing the air. The farm boy, which by now you've come to like a lot, shows his new watch off -- plays 60 different orchestrations. He's playing Bolero for the crew. Suddenly he's eaten by a great white shark. End of chapter, but the begining of a marvelous read. Keep an open mind, remind yourself of the willfull suspension of disbelief, and enjoy the ride
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable twist on the world you see around you now...
Review: It seems a few reviewers missed key points to this novel. I found a copy of the paperbook in a science-fiction/fantasy store in SF after asking the cashier if she had any books that to recommend. She picked up "Sewer, Gas & Electric" and said, "A lot of people think this one is really funny."
The novel starts slowly and puts into place all the cogs that will come together as the book progresses. I read it twice to make sure where everything fit into place which made a funnier and more in depth the second time around because I could see the "why of where" Ruff had placed people. But then I had to read some Pynchon twice as well.
Not that I think they necessarily write in the same tradition. I find Pynchon tends to more of a subtle slapstick where I find Ruff, at least in this book, goes more in a Merry Prankster tradition. I did find one reviewer online who found that this novel owes a lot to Neal Stephenson, of Snow Crash fame. Even that, comparatively seems less over the top, and that says something in itself, than this book.
As far as the "trashing Ayn Rand" some reviewers have mentioned, I find more of an alternative viewpoint from somebody who has obviously read her books and knows her history and dearly wanted to show her what a hypocrite she (as written by him) acted. And that her philosophy only made sense if you have not deconstructed it.
But the main point of the book stems from the fact that it belongs in the science-fiction/fantasy section so people who love the tradition Ruff writes in (and plenty of other reviewers have made their cases for what tradition they believe it is) should have a good, semi-light, read and perhaps laugh.
Rating:
Summary: SG&E- a Great Read
Review: Brilliant! Genocide, electronic slaves, eco-crusaders, the politics of power, social responsibility...how do you construct a novel with all these elements without frightening or boring your reader to death? Matt Ruff knows: a true artist. He extends reality to the point of what is seemingly fantastic; but, is it really? Probably not; however, the flow of Ruff's lyrical writing style and excellent comic relief empowers the reader with a sense of hope. All I can say is... WOW!!! This is a must for anyone's personal library. A rating under 4 doesn't do this book justice. I've given it a 5. PS: FOTH is a very different book but another great example of Ruff's amazing talent.
Rating: 
Summary: Grinding Gears
Review: About a third of the way through this book it takes a drastic turn. In the beginning it reads like an outrageous farce, a satire of futuristic epics. But then suddenly the tone changes completely and the story is suddenly meant to be taken seriously. For the first few chapters I was rolling with laughter on every page, but after the tone change I wasn't laughing anymore. I think that this was a mistake on the author's part. This material (mutant sharks, polkadotted submarines, and the plague that wiped out negroes as a subtle dig at the fact that futuristic epics never seem to have any black people in them.) all plays well as comedy and satire, but taken seriously its just nauseating and rediculous. Still, I give it three stars just for the sheer ingenuity of it; especially the scene with Hoover and Cohn having lunch and the two interpretations of their conversation. It was brilliant the way it all fit together. The bit with Ayn Rand being carried around in a lava lamp seemed a bit pointless though. I found nothing meaningful or insightful said about Rand anywhere in the book. Apparently, the author just thought it was funny to stick her in a lava lamp and subject her to juvenile redicule. Still, this is a fun book.
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