I've mentioned this before on the blog, but in my day job I'm not an Americanist, much less a specialist in science fiction. My background is in eighteenth-century British literature, and Lafferty ended up being just a hobby interest. One of the first things that caught my attention when I started rereading him was how he sometimes uses heroic couplets to generate ideas. It may seem an odd thing to fasten on, but the eighteenth-century mind loved the couplet, with its sharp a

My impression A totally crazy story! Three Homers and two Reginas, not to mention the kids. Once again, the author takes aim at science, this time at the depth psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. The archetype theory, already exploited countless times in science fiction, is taken to absurd extremes here. The funniest part: the kids don't bat an eye when Homer, the monster, tries to devour their mother. This act, which Regina finds exceptionally enjoyable, is perhaps the author'

Raphael Aloisius Lafferty’s most interesting work, however, takes place on the distant planet Camiroi and is titled “Primary Education of the Camiroi” (1970). A group of Earth teachers visit to study the school system. Informality rules Camiroi (“any citizen of Camiroi competent to perform any task on the planet”), and to form a Parents-Teachers Association, the Earthlings must randomly select the first passers-by. Once the Association is formed, they tour the schools (privat