THE MADONNA AND THE STARSHIP

New science fiction novella by the masterful author of the much acclaimed SHAMBLING TOWARD HIROSHIMA. In the golden era of sci-fi TV, why were alien crustaceans so darned literal? Beloved 1950's star Uncle Wonder must create the ultimately irreverent television show — or crayfish from outer space will inflict their death-ray on an unsuspecting viewership.

It’s New York City, 1953. The new medium of live television has been kind to young pulp-fiction writer Kurt Jastrow. Not only does he enjoy scripting a popular children’s space opera, “Brock Barton and His Rocket Rangers,” he also plays an eccentric tinkerer on Uncle Wonder’s Attic. But Kurt’s world is thrown into disarray when two extraterrestrial lobster-like creatures arrive at the studio. Certain that the audience for a religious program represents “a hive of irrationalist vermin,” the shellfish scheme to vaporize its two million viewers. Kurt and his co-writer have a mere forty hours to write and produce an explicitly rational and utterly absurd script that will somehow deter the aliens from their diabolical scheme. James Morrow is the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Towing Jehovah, the Nebula Award-winning novella Shambling Towards Hiroshima, and the New York Times Notable Book Blameless in Abaddon. His recent novels include The Last Witchfinder, hailed by the Washington Post as “literary magic,” and The Philosopher’s Apprentice, which received a rave review from Entertainment Weekly. He is a master of the satiric and the surreal who has enjoyed comparison with Twain, Vonnegut, and Updike. Morrow lives in State College, Pennsylvania.