This is just about the most hilarious book I have ever read. And I have read most of the stuff by Addams and Pratchet. It is about a typical guy who is looking for a job and sort of accidentally ends up as an alleged super agent of a very secret secret agency. He then is supposed to extract a communist defector from Venice. This turns out to be most difficult and (for the reader) funny.

I read this book as a teenager, read it again and again, and finally got rid of it because I thought I had memorized it. That was over 20 years ago and I would really love to read it again! The author's descriptive capabilities will have you rolling with laughter, so make sure you're not standing up when you read it.

"The Game of X" is not the usual type of Sheckley book. He leaves sci-fi and fantasy to take on the spy field. The hero is just a regular guy who is mistaken for a spy. He knows nothing of the circumstances he is thrust into but through quick wits he makes the right moves and with a lot of luck his wrong moves turn out to be the right ones because his opponants have misjudged his abilities. It is "a great read". I could not put it down and someday I'll find it again --- and hang on to it this time!

Published under this [] title JOURNEY BEYOND TOMORROW, its real title is JOURNEY OF JOENES and it is one of the strangest, most brilliant and touching satires ever written. If Jorge Luis Borges and G.K. Chesterton stayed up all night doing coffee and shrooms, this is the book they'd come up with. As Mike Resnick said in his review, the section about the Octagon is so mind-blowing and so full of comic paradox you'll need to take a deep breath and have a cocktail while your cerebellum cools off.

This book takes place after the world has ended. The conceit is that it is a collection of "folk tales" by the only survivors of the human race, Polynesian storytellers. The storytellers, each with separate idiosyncracies, go around the campfire telling the stories that were passed down to them about The Old Times. About how the world came to an end because of a Mythic Innocent named Joenes who accidentally causes the End of the World. In the process, he finds Jesus Christ in the Hollis Home for the Criminally Insane, is hired as a college professor but has no idea what he's teaching, finds that scientists and lawyers now worship superstition with a random number generator as their oracle, that doctors are creating diseases that cannot be cured, that maximum security prisons have more guards than ever because everyone is trying to break *into* prison, and that the world's most advanced computer humiliates Satan and takes over his job inspiring mankind to a new level of cruelty and war.

I can't tell you how much I love Sheckley. His stories are, as Spider Robinson once said, lean, mean and funny. And his best novels, like Journey of Joenes (aka Journey Beyond Tomorrow, ugh what a title!) are profound masterpieces of satire on the level of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, CATCH 22, JURGEN, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER or THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY.

Read this, his other ingenious satirical novels DIMENSION OF MIRACLES and MINDSWAP, and his greatest short stories, especially in the collection IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?

An excellent satire. The first of Sheckley's three brilliant humor novels of the 1960s (the next two being MINDSWAP and the unsurpassed DIMENSION OF MIRACLES). This book is worth the price just for his description of the Octogon, the most confusing government building ever created.

Well, Codemaster Talon above says it all. Give this book to a teenager as his first mind-expander. Sheckley's irreverence, boldness and craziness appeal to kids and his perfectly structured satire and inventive characters appeals to adults.

Rudy Rucker told me this was his favorite Sheckley book, and was one of the books that inspired him to become a writer. In case you don't know, Rucker is a genius. (Although kinda mean.) And Harlan Ellison, also obviously a genius storyteller, is one of Sheckley's biggest fans.

And MINDSWAP is all at once Sheckley at his silliest and his most profound. The section on The Twisted World is evocative of nothing else you'll ever read anywhere. And all of the logical paradoxes and joke reversals and lyrical parodies of writing styles add up to one of the strangest, funniest, stupidest, most brilliant novels I have ever read. I should have put funniest first, because it is extremely witty.

Oh, and you might want to read his two other masterpieces of satire, DIMENSION OF MIRACLES and JOURNEY BEYOND TOMORROW (aka JOURNEY OF JOENES.)

"MindSwap" is the first book I've read by legendary sci-fi master Robert Sheckley, and a what a great introduction it is. Somewhat forgotten now by all but the hardcore of sci-fi fans, Sheckley has spent the last five decades written gleefully insane social satires, including such classics as "Immortality, Inc.", "Journey Beyond Tommorrow", and his masterpeice, "Dimension of Miracles". "MindSwap", written in 1966, has Sheckley in fine form and is a great place to start if you have never been subjected to his dementia.

The plot starts off simply: In the future, interstellar travel between Earth and the many many known alien worlds is extremely expensive, so in order to see the galaxy some brave souls resort to "MindSwap", a service that switches your consciousness with that of a compatible alien lifeform. You enjoy a new body, new sourroundings and even new skills while still maintaing your own mind and memories, all at a low low cost. This is precisely what Marvin, our hero, sets out to do as the novel begins. He quickly runs into a snag, though, as his actual body (now inhabited by the consciousness of the alien whose body Marvin controls) is unexpectedly stolen. Then Marvin finds out HE is in a stolen body himself, and a judge gives him six hours to locate a spare body, and time is running out....

The plot then truly takes off as Marvin visits one crazy world after another, taking jobs that nobody else wants (often with very good reason) just to have a body to stay alive in. Jeweled Egg hunting (watch out for those Ganzers!), waiting out a ticking bomb (located up his nose), and other adventures quickly cure Marvin of his wanderlust and give Sheckley's sparkling wit a chance to shine. Master of the truly unexpected plot twist, Sheckley is also famous for dreaming up nutty concepts that he manages to explain in borderline convincing ways . The best example of this in "MindSwap" is his "Theory of Searches", which states that if you are searching for someone, they, whether they know it or not, are also searching for you. And if someone is looking for you, you might as well stay in one place and let them find you. And one waiting place, of course, is as good as another, and this is how Marvin finds himself hanging out in a Mexican Cantina, where he does indeed find many people he has lost (unfortunately mostly relatives).

I haven't even mentioned the love interest (the EXTREMELY elusive Cathy), the grueling journey across a frozen wasteland (to get to the Cantina, of course) and, for no apparent reason at all, a twenty page Medieval Battle (complete with full histories of the clans involved). All of this culminates in the most inspired creation of all, the dreaded, nightmare-filled "Twisted World". Darkly hinted at throughout the novel, when we finally get to see it, it is both not what we expected, and if you think about it, far worse than we could of imagined (actually, it kind of reminded me of the DMV). The book ends on a rather strange note, and I found that the only way to be at peace with the ending is either to completely think it through, or not think about it at all. Either way, it may put you off travel for a while.

Fun, funny, insightful and intensely creative, "MindSwap" is a terrific ride that should appeal to fans of absurdist humor, sharply written satire, or just plain great writing. Highly recommended.

This is Sheckley's first novel and one of his best. He was writing his most famous lean-and-mean short stories at the time, and he is in rare form telling this bold tale of death, the afterlife, time-travel and ressurrection.

Sheckley is one of the greatest unsung storytellers in science fiction. Some if the greatest sf and fantasy writers are his biggest fans. This book is a great starting place, along with his three masterpieces of modern satire, DIMENSION OF MIRACLES, MINDSWAP and JOURNEY OF JOENES.

I haven't read the entirety of the book, but I read the first story, a novel, which I haven't seen printed anywhere else, called immortality, inc. The book blew my mind. I discovered it from the movie "freejack" with Emileo Estavez, which is (loosely) based on it. I found the Sheckley compilation book "The Robert Sheckely Omnibus" with the story, wanting to see how well the movie represented it. While the movie had some redeeming value, the book was much more intense, both intellectually and emotionally.

Thomas Blaine, your average Everyman, is driving down a lone highway at night. He sees in the distance another car. His car suddenly swerves over to the other lane, right in front of the approaching car. As hard as he tries he cannot turn the steering wheel over. Moments after the fatal crash he finds himself in 22nd century America on an operating table, with a completly different body.

The story delves into many metaphysical concepts dealing with the mind (and as a philosophy major, this intriqued me). The future holds, as always, high technology in which the society discovers the means to immortality. They discover, scientifically, a hearafter, and a way to master it. Without paying megabucks for a treatment to guarantee an afterlife, only one in a million minds can hold themselves together. Another option is near physical immortality, with reincarnation, a body transfer in which one person can opt to sell his/her body for money for their family and a guaranteed afterlife. Another, rich person, can then possess the body and be reborn.

The book also delves into the possibilities of the supernatural, how ghosts, doppelgangers, poltergeists, werewolves, vampires, and zombies relate to this scientific spirituality.

And finally, the book approaches the possible moral implications with such technology. All mixed up with an intriguing plotline, suspense, mystery, and stinging social commentary.

The moment I picked up this book, I could not put it down. It completely engrosses you. I was saddened to find the book out of print, which it shouldn't. If you have the chance buy it, express interest to the publisher to reprint it, anything. This is definitly a book well worth reading.

This collection, along with IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?, CITIZEN IN SPACE and UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS, are probably Sheckley's best collections, not including his COLLECTED SHORT STORIES which is the Mudda Lode of Shecklian Lore.

Sheckley's lean and mean plotting, his neurotic, time-running-out characters, and his bold and paradoxical staging of events makes his stories uniquely witty, satisfying and, well, awesome.

Sheckley is the favorite writer of many of your favorite writers. Just ask them. This collection has a stupid title and belies the brilliance within those pages. About two thirds of Sheckley's stories are pure genius and only one third unsuccessful or semi-lame. His percentage is about the same as Bradbury's, and Sheckley and Bradbury both wrote some of the all-time greatest stories in modern fantasy.

I highly recommend this book, along with Sheckley's three classic satirical novels: DIMENSION OF MIRACLES, JOURNEY BEYOND TOMORROW (aka JOURNEY OF JOENES) and MINDSWAP.

Simply put this is what short fiction SHOULD be. Witty to the point tales that explore their themes with an insightful zest. Sheckley is one of the few SF authors who can compare with Bob Shaw for short story writing ability. Loved it.

Three personalities trapped in one tortured body, and lobotomy is a dirty word.The result? Enforced separation of those personalties. Keep the sanest of them grounded here on earth, and ship the other undesirable ones off to far flung corners of the galaxy where they can decay in host bodies which will last maybe 40 years. Trouble is, earthbound Alistair Crompton feels incomplete,transparent.Goddamn it, he's boring..and the only solution is re-intigration with those lost parts.he's approaching 40.I last read this book around 5 years ago.It was the 10th time for me. It would make a marvellous movie..it IS a gloriously funny novel.

Funny. Witty. Surprising. Think of any positive adjective and it probably applies to Sheckley's Alternative Detective novels. Sheckley's writing technique is so sharp and his characters so real and engaging that even without the mystery element, these books would be riveting. That there _is_ a mystery that Hob is out to solve makes it all the better.

I loved this book. A delecious sense of satire is peppered all the way through. THere is just a taste of malice beneath the surface to keep it edgy. The story of an average to sub-average man. (in mind anyhow) It tells his tale as he goes to make mmoney in a killing gtame where you are sometimes Hunter....sometimes Victim. Intriguing storyline and excellent delvelopment make this a must read

Well, maybe. It's a tough call because his short story collections are so damned good. Sheckley is known as the master of the lean and mean, the witty and the funny. He is one of the great wits of our age and his genius is most obvious in his very accessible and modest-looking stories. But the stories in this collection are like Borges puzzles or Calvino novels, posing simple but important problems and turning the plots in on themselves as only Sheckley can do.

It's interesting to think about comparing the styles of Sheckley and Bradbury, both genius short story writers. Both are extremely bold storytellers and both have a lyrical conciseness. Both are funny and twisted and both are touching. But Sheckley is like a smirking master poker player while Bradbury deals you an amazing hand of hearts. Sheckley is to acid as Bradbury is to ecstacy.

Sheckley's stories are simply as good as any stories in fantasy and science fiction. His characters are usually at the end of their rope and find extraordinary solutions to extraordinary problems. Sheckley is the original thinking-out-of-the-box guy. He's alternately nuts, a genius jokewriter, a philosophical scholar and a hard-hitting action writer. I'm tellin' ya, you've gotta read his stories and IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?, along with CITIZEN IN SPACE and UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS, are the collections to start with.

Except for the title story, which reads more like a long outline for the TV movie he wrote of the same name, almost every story in this book is awesome and mindblowing.

Check out the crazy throwaway story Sheckley wrote to pad this collection called REDFERN'S LABYRINTH, a tale of a man who receives two letters in the mail, one a description of the state of mind he must have as he reads the letter, the other advertising the experience he must go through reading the two letters, describing the effect of the first letter and the second, which describes them both. And which has the faint odor of kelp. Does this make sense? Not really. But in a weird way it does, and it's high intellectual fun watching Sheckley making it up as he goes along, and surprising you with exponential inventiveness at every turn.

Sheckey is the wittiest storyteller of his generation, and one of the classic fantasy writers of all time. Sheckley and Bradbury are like the Lennonn and McCartney of SF short story writers.

Once you get past the opening title story, you are in for a treat of high satire, bold and paradoxical plotting and concise craftmanship.

This collection, along with IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?, THE ROBOT WHO LOOKED LIKE ME,...CITIZEN IN SPACE and UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS, are his best and highly recommended for anyone who enjoys satire, wit and fantasy short story writing at its best.