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Published March 14, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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SCIENCE FICTION

Venus on the Half-Shell and Others

By Philip Jose Farmer. Subterranean, $38. Grade: A

When Venus on the Half-Shell was released in paperback in 1975, the author was listed as Kilgore Trout, a fictitious writer who appeared in some of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s novels, most notably the classic Slaughterhouse-Five.

Trout, according to Vonnegut, made a living by writing science fiction stories used as filler between the pictures in pornographic magazines. Thus, the soft-core tale of a space wanderer searching the galaxy for the answer to the question, "Why are we created only to suffer and die?" while engaging in dalliances with various otherworldly females fit right into the lexicon.

Years later, it was revealed that Philip Jose Farmer penned the novel with Vonnegut's approval. This is the first publication under Farmer's name.

Final word: In addition to the hilarious title novel, this book contains nine other stories written by fictional characters and short essays by Farmer telling why he wrote them. Don't miss it.

Mark Graham

CHILDREN

My Dog May Be A Genius

By Jack Prelutsky, drawings by James Stevenson (Greenwillow Books, $18.99) Ages 5 and up. Grade: B+

Nothing tempts kids to read poetry like a silly rhyme, and Children's Poet Laureate Prelutsky's fifth collaboration with Stevenson offers all manner of rib-ticklers.

Released in time for National Poetry Month (April), the collection consists of 100-plus poems, from the title's namesake about a dog that outwits its owner by learning to spell to word play about mowing the bathtub and bathing in the grass.

In I am on a Bumpy Road, words bend and turn all over the page, jostling readers as they read. There's even a poem that looks like the very thing it's about: In Two Dozen of My Words, Prelutsky presents 24 words in broken-up type because, as he explains in those words, they were pecked apart by birds.

At the end of the book, Prelutsky gives both an index to titles and an index to first lines, so finding your favorite is a cinch.

Final word: Goofy and easy to grasp, Prelutsky's collection is just the thing to inspire readers to pick up a pencil and rhyme.

Jennifer Miller

MYSTERY

Slip of the Knife

By Denise Mina. Little, Brown, $24.99. Grade: A

Reader, beware: You will lose sleep over the latest from Mina. This is one very scary novel that also plumbs depths and complexities rarely found in crime fiction.

Not as well known in the U.S. as she should be, Mina really deserves an Edgar this time.

Slip of the Knife returns to the story of Paddy Meehan, so smart it hurts, who's grown into her newspaper job and her life. A friend's death, linked to the IRA, brings danger to Paddy, whose young son's vulnerability adds an almost unbearable level of suspense. At the same time, a convicted child killer from Mina's award-winning first novel, Field of Blood, is released from prison to a very uncertain future; count on Mina to carefully examine the very difficult realities and emotions affecting his friends and family.

Final word: Slip of the Knife is undoubtedly one of 2008's top novels.

Jane Dickinson

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