Rating: 
Summary: I found this to be a most enjoyable novel
Review: James Morrow has created a society in which all citizens have been painfully conditioned to tell only the absolute truth. The main character, Jack Sperry, a citizen of Veritas, the City of Truth, has lived his thirty-eight years in this controlled environment. He has attained his boyhood dream of being a critic through his present job as a deconstructionist, at which he spends his days destroying the art and literature left over from the Age of Lies. Jack is married to Helen and they have a seven year old son named Toby. All in all, Jack is reasonably happy with his life unttil Toby is bitten by a rabbit at Camp Ditch-the-Kids and contracts a fatal disease. In spite of his conditioning against sentimentality and feelings, saving Toby becomes the most important thing in Jack's life. He will do whatever he can to keep his son alive, even to the extent of giving up his own way of life.The concept of living in a society, which so highly prizes the truth, is refreshing. The truth in advertising product names are especially humorous e.g., Plymouth Adequate and Ford Sufficient. Personal relationships also operate on a totally different level as men and women speak candidly to each other even to discussing their sexual desires. With his creation of Veritas, Morrow is able to give us a realistic and humorous look at our commercially driven economy. He also uses his characters Jack and Toby to remind us of what is even more valuable than truth, namely, our love for each other.
Rating:
Summary: Audacious
Review: James Morrow is a writer after my own heart. In City of Truth, he takes an audacious idea--what if everyone always told the truth?--and uses it to show that there's something much deeper. We learn that while truth is beautiful, it can also be incredibly ugly. And that, while lies are despicable, they also have a place. And while we learn these things, we also get to laugh at some great imagination, as what would advertising be like if it had to be truthful (I especially enjoyed the "new" Surgeon General's warning on a pack of Canceroulettes, not to mention Camp Ditch-the-Kids). Morrow's got a way with this; his Full Spectrum story, "Daughter Earth," contained many of the same elements: a light, humorous tone encasing a serious, yet not dull, meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Pigs can fly!
Review: The above falsity(Pigs can fly!) could not be said in the City of Truth. For it is a lie. And lies are irreproachable in the City of Truth. Imagine being a politician in a city that won't allow it's citizens to lie. Imagine telling a pretty looking young woman you just met that you'd like to make love to her before you even had the chance to ask her name. In a city that does not lie nothing is sacred. James Morrow is an excellent storyteller to be sure. His novel is funny, touching, and often absurd. The first half was better than the second half, but overall I'd recommend this delightful little book. Give Morrow's book "Only Begotten Daughter" a shot too, it's quite good. He's funny, his characters are interesting, but more importantly he spins one heck of a good yarn.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not his best.
Review: This book falls in with the "man vs. dystopia" gang. I found it to be a pretty good "sunday afternoon all the stores are closed i need a good book under 200 pages" kind of book. Read it if you're a fan of James Morrow. Read it if you just can't get enough of _Anthem_, _Brave New World_, _1984_ and so on. I think it's worth reading just for the "honest advertising" stuff:cigarettes have names like "Canceroulettes" etc. This book isn't quite as good as the other dystopia novels: it just dosen't produce the sense of dread like 1984, the disgust at the culture like in Brave New World, or the repression from Handmaid's Tale. It's probably on par with Anthem, but replace the preachy "I, I ...I!" in Ayn Rand's works with the humor of James Morrow. I liked it
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but too short
Review: This book is rather funny, kind of a humorous cross between 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. It is, however, not a novel. It is a novella. I am glad I checked it out of the library, because I could not justify spending money on what really is unoriginal and short. It has its place in a collection of short fiction or novellas, but not a stand-alone book. I need more volume and more originality for my money.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but too short
Review: This book is rather funny, kind of a humorous cross between 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. It is, however, not a novel. It is a novella. I am glad I checked it out of the library, because I could not justify spending money on what really is unoriginal and short. It has its place in a collection of short fiction or novellas, but not a stand-alone book. I need more volume and more originality for my money.
Rating: 
Summary: A less cynical Morrow, but only slightly...
Review: This is an excellent short book. Almost too short, in fact. Readers will be intrigued, though not charmed, by the bulk of Morrow's characters, particularly the protagonist, as they wander through what seems, on the surface, a truth-seeker's paradise. Morrow's wry sense of humor is evident throughout (particularly in his product names), but his deep-thinking message comes through -- maybe truth isn't always the best policy. If you enjoyed "Towing Jehovah," but were disturbed by Morrow's darkness, you will find this book delightful. If you're looking for gloom-and-doom Morrow, don't bother... this book actually has positive redemption for some of its characters.
Rating:
Summary: The Funny Side of Truth
Review: This wry and gentle science fiction novella is mostly a parable about truth and its application. In the city of Veritas, eveyone goes through a coming of age rite which involves elctroshock conditioning (a la "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest" or "A Clockwork Orange") to both remove the ability to lie and the implant the need to tell the entire truth. This makes for a fairly amusing setting in which products bear truthful names such as "Ford Sufficient, " how-to books bear such itles as "You Can Have Somewhat Better Sex," and summer camp is "Camp Ditch-the-Kids." Personal conflict seems to be more or less non-existant as everyone tells the truth and no one gets offended by it. The actual story is about Jack Sperry, an art deconstructionist and his son Toby, who catches an incurable disease. Jack's job involves examining works of art and literature from the past, ie. the "Age of Lies," and physically destroying those that represent things that aren't true, such as winged angels. Jack has read of the "healing power of the positive thinking," and wants to try it with Toby. However, since such a course of treatment is not based on anything factual, and involves lying to Toby, he must find the secret communicty of "dissemblers," who have somehow overcome their conditioning and secretly live among the normal people. This eventually leads Jack to theliteral underground of Satirev (Veritas backward, get it?), where pigs do fly, money grows on trees, and soforth. The part spent in this phantasmagoria is decidely less amusing or interesting than the city of Veritas, which is richer territory for mockery. In the end, Morrow's tale comes to the somewhat mawkish conlusion that while eveyone should have the freedom to choose whether to lie or not, only the truth can really set you free.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Will Set You Free...
Review: This wry and gentle science fiction novella is mostly a parable about truth and its application. In the city of Veritas, eveyone goes through a coming of age rite which involves elctroshock conditioning (a la "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest" or "A Clockwork Orange") to both remove the ability to lie and the implant the need to tell the entire truth. This makes for a fairly amusing setting in which products bear truthful names such as "Ford Sufficient, " how-to books bear such itles as "You Can Have Somewhat Better Sex," and summer camp is "Camp Ditch-the-Kids." Personal conflict seems to be more or less non-existant as everyone tells the truth and no one gets offended by it. The actual story is about Jack Sperry, an art deconstructionist and his son Toby, who catches an incurable disease. Jack's job involves examining works of art and literature from the past, ie. the "Age of Lies," and physically destroying those that represent things that aren't true, such as winged angels. Jack has read of the "healing power of the positive thinking," and wants to try it with Toby. However, since such a course of treatment is not based on anything factual, and involves lying to Toby, he must find the secret communicty of "dissemblers," who have somehow overcome their conditioning and secretly live among the normal people. This eventually leads Jack to theliteral underground of Satirev (Veritas backward, get it?), where pigs do fly, money grows on trees, and soforth. The part spent in this phantasmagoria is decidely less amusing or interesting than the city of Veritas, which is richer territory for mockery. In the end, Morrow's tale comes to the somewhat mawkish conlusion that while eveyone should have the freedom to choose whether to lie or not, only the truth can really set you free.
Rating:
Summary: Quick, biting, funny read
Review: Though Morrow is highly regarded for Towing Jehovah and its sequels, City of Truth is a little-known gem. In a city where everyone must tell the truth, parents send their children to "Camp Ditch-the-Kids." Gets a little melodramatic toward the end, but the set up alone makes this a 5-star choice. Makes my top 20 "Best Right Angle, Odd, Sort-of-SF" list.
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