CHEAP TRUTH TOP TEN

This list, by guest grump Sue Denim, is all recent stuff (within the last year, at least) and should be fairly easy to find.

• BEST OF CHARLES BEAUMONT -- Known for his Twilight Zone work, his short fiction is brilliant, literate, and a vast range of styles and moods. Bantam.
• THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER by Philip K. Dick -- the Master's last book, a change of pace in tone and style but still brilliant and haunting. Timescape.
• THE MAN WHO HAD NO IDEA by Thomas M. Disch -- Bizarre and highly literate collection that fairly shimmers with wit. Bantam.
• RIDDLEY WALKER by Russel Hoban -- The made-up language is a pain in the ass, but the extra work is worth it. Grim but deeply moving post-apocalypse. Washington Square.
• THE UNREASONING MASK by Philip Jose' Farmer -- Wildly inventive, and if not in a stylistic league with Disch or Hoban, at least Farmer is coherent and readable here (as opposed to, say, the last couple of Riverworld books). Berkley.
• COURTSHIP RITE by Donald Kingsbury -- Earth's descendants reduced to near savagery on an alien world -- but wait. This is the real thing, intricately designed and fiercely imagined. Timescape.
• THE WAR HOUND AND THE WORLD'S PAIN by Michael Moorcock. His best in years, carefully crafted, full of surprises and convoluted characters. Timescape.
• THE SNARKOUT BOYS AND THE AVOCADO OF DEATH by Daniel M. Pinkwater -- You'll have to look in the "Young Adult" section for this one, but do it anyway. Brilliant satire by a genuine mad genius. Signet.
• THE GOLDEN SPACE by Pamela Sargent -- Fixup of several stories, with filler material, but it really does work as a novel. Immortals and their genetically altered children raise serious issues. Strong characters. Timescape.
• A ROSE FOR ARMAGEDDON by Hilbert Schenck -- This guy is weird and doesn't seem to know how books are supposed to be written, which is a real relief sometimes. Once this one gets rolling (and it does take its time) you won't want to stop. Timescape.