Books like 'A Perfect Vacuum'
Readers who enjoyed A Perfect Vacuum by Stanisław Lem also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi classics literary-fiction humor satire
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Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle by Harold Bloom, Terry Southern
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsA critical overview of the work features the writings of Terry Southern, William S. Doxey, Jerome Klinkowitz, Richard Giannone, John L. Simons, James Lundquist, and other scholars.- After the bomb, Dad came up with ice / Terry Southern- Vonnegut's Cat's cradle / William S... -
![Понедельник начинается в субботу. Сказка о Тройке by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky]()
Понедельник начинается в субботу. Сказка о Тройке by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsШедевр русской фантастики!!! Блистающие юмором истории младшего научного сотрудника Александра Привалова стали настольной книгой многих поколений российских читателей.Федор Симеонович Киврин и Витька Корнеев, ведьмочка Стеллочка и профессор Выбегалло,Лавр Федотович и птеродактиль Кузька, пришелец Константин и Клоп Говорун... Герои "Понедельника..." и "Сказки о Тройке" живут среди нас по сей день... -
![Good Old Neon by David Foster Wallace]()
Good Old Neon by David Foster Wallace
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings...Categorized as:
literary-fiction classics humor satire fiction mental-illness audiobook contemporary -
![ಕರ್ವಾಲೋ [Karvalo] by K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi]()
ಕರ್ವಾಲೋ [Karvalo] by K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn Karvalo, the protagonist is a well educated farmer, who is also the narrator of the story. In spite of his great interest in rural lifestyle, his unsuccessful agricultural work makes him consider ending his life as a farmer to move to the city.[citation needed] During this time he meets Karvalo, a middle aged scientist in search of a rare lizard... -
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![Complete Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Dave Eggers]()
Complete Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Dave Eggers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFeaturing five never-before-published Vonnegut stories!Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the twentieth century’s foremost imaginative geniuses. More than half of Vonnegut’s output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together... -
![Novels & Stories 1950–1962: Player Piano / The Sirens of Titan / Mother Night / Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Novels & Stories 1950–1962: Player Piano / The Sirens of Titan / Mother Night / Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKurt Vonnegut’s signature qualities as a writer—what John Updike called “his free flow of invention, the surreal beauty of his imagery, and a colloquial American style justly ranked with Mark Twain’s”—are everywhere on display in this authoritative collection of his early fiction...Categorized as:
classics humor literary-fiction satire adult alternate-universe anthologies dystopia -
![System Restored by Adam Eccles]()
System Restored by Adam Eccles
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDerek Cooper is a retro gamer.His small flat is crammed with old consoles, controllers, accessories and shelves brimming full of old games. Quite an amazing collection, but there's always room for one more, isn't there?1981. The world of arcade games is just coming into its own... -
![The Essential Ellison by Harlan Ellison]()
The Essential Ellison by Harlan Ellison
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn April of 1949, Harlan Ellison was a lonely little kid living in Painesville, Ohio. A time traveler, observing him from within an invisible bubble, would not have marked him as anything more interesting than an undersized fourteen-year-old, seemingly always in hot water. Lively blue eyes, but basically just another kid... -
![The Bedbug and Selected Poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky]()
The Bedbug and Selected Poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis selection of Mayakovsky's work covers his entire career--from the earliest pre-revolutionary lyrics to a poem found in a notebook after his suicide. Splendid translations of the poems, with the Russian on a facing page, and a fresh, colloquial version of Mayakovsky's dramatic masterpiece, The Bedbug... -
![The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Three: Nebula Winners 1965-1969 by Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg]()
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Three: Nebula Winners 1965-1969 by Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Silverberg
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Nebula Award Winners for Best Novella, Best Novelet, and Best Short Story for the years 1965 - 1969 inclusive... -
![The Magic of Shirley Jackson by Shirley Jackson]()
The Magic of Shirley Jackson by Shirley Jackson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsExperience The Magic of Shirley Jackson with this generous selection of the author's greatest work.This collection consists of three complete books:The Bird's NestLife Among the SavagesRaising Demonsand eleven short stories--including the world-famous "The Lottery... -
![Roadside Picnic / Tale of the Troika by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky]()
Roadside Picnic / Tale of the Troika by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRed Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits compelled to venture illegally into the Zone and collect the strange artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered there. His whole life, even the nature of his daughter, is determined by the Zone.Tale of the Troika is a sequel to Monday Begins on Saturday and a satire on Soviet bureaucrazy... -
![Blindness / Seeing by José Saramago]()
Blindness / Seeing by José Saramago
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn Blindness, a city is overcome by an epidemic of blindness that spares only one woman. She becomes a guide for a group of seven strangers and serves as the eyes and ears for the reader in this profound parable of loss and disorientation. We return to the city years later in Saramago’s Seeing, a satirical commentary on government in general and democracy in particular... -
![Cat's Cradle/God Bless You Mr. Rosewater/Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Cat's Cradle/God Bless You Mr. Rosewater/Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKurt Vonnegut: Three Complete Novels: Cat's Cradle; God Bless You Mr. Rosewater; Breakfast of Champions... -
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![Torture the Artist by Joey Goebel]()
Torture the Artist by Joey Goebel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsVincent Spinetti is an archetypal tortured artist ? a sensitive young writer who falls victim to alienation, parental neglect, poverty, depression, alcoholism, illness, nervous breakdowns, and unrequited love... -
![Untouched By Human Hands by Robert Sheckley]()
Untouched By Human Hands by Robert Sheckley
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe 1950s saw publication of Sheckley's 1st four books: short story collections Untouched by Human Hands (Ballantine '54), Citizen in Space ('55), Pilgrimage to Earth (Bantam '57) & a novel, Immortality, Inc. (1st serialized in Galaxy, '58)... -
![Junkers Season Two (Junkers #2) by Benjamin Wallace]()
Junkers Season Two (Junkers #2) by Benjamin Wallace
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt was supposed to be the happiest place on the whole wide planet. It was supposed to be a place where every child’s favorite characters came to life. And, it was, until those characters went nuts and started killing everyone. Then it wasn’t so happy... -
![Watchbird by Robert Sheckley]()
Watchbird by Robert Sheckley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Gelsen entered, he saw that the rest of the watchbird manufacturers were already present. There were six of them, not counting himself, and the room was blue with expensive cigar smoke. As a watchbird manufacturer, he was a member manufacturer of salvation, he reminded himself wryly. Very exclusive. You must have a certified government contract if you want to save the human race... -
![Russian Stories/Русские Рассказы: A Dual-Language Book by Gleb Struve]()
Russian Stories/Русские Рассказы: A Dual-Language Book by Gleb Struve
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwelve superb tales by Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Bunin, other masters. Excellent word-for-word English translations on facing pages. Also teaching and practice aids, Russian-English vocabulary, biographical/critical introductions to each selection, study questions, more. Especially helpful are the stress accents in the Russian text, usually found only in primers... -
![Uova fatali / Cuore di cane by Mikhail Bulgakov]()
Uova fatali / Cuore di cane by Mikhail Bulgakov
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeluxe Russian edition of Bulgakov's two most famous early novellas. Also contains Bulgakov's short story collection The Diaboliad and assorted prose sketches. Gorgeous illustrations, limited edition... -
![Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection by Isaac Asimov]()
Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsGold is the final and crowning achievement of the fifty-year career of science fiction's transcendent genius, the world-famous author who defined the field of science fiction for its practitioners, its millions of readers, and the world at large... -
![Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy by Stanisław Lem]()
Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIjon Tichy is an ordinary space traveler whose extraordinary curiosity leads him to the very fringes of science. Their plans are grandiose, the bargains they make too often Faustian, for the ends these scientists pursue concern humanity's greatest and most ancient obsessions: immortality, artificial intelligence, and top-of-the-line consumer items... -
![The Best of Fredric Brown by Fredric Brown]()
The Best of Fredric Brown by Fredric Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Wit and Whimsy of Fredric BrownTwenty-nine of the best-loved stories by the man some critics call the O. Henry of science fiction… stories that range from the wryly humorous to the deadly serious, but are always unforgettable... -
![Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson]()
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsKevin Wilson's characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. "Grand Stand-In" is narrated by an employee of a Nuclear Family Supplemental Provider—a company that supplies "stand-ins" for families with deceased, ill, or just plain mean grandparents...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire 21st-century anthologies audiobook contemporary fiction -
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![I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories by Ray Bradbury]()
I Sing the Body Electric! & Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe mind of Ray Bradbury is a wonder-filled carnival of delight and terror that stretches from the verdant Irish countryside to the coldest reaches of outer space. Yet all his work is united by one common thread: a vivid and profound understanding of the vast set of emotions that bring strength and mythic resonance to our frail species...Categorized as:
classics humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![Palm Sunday/Welcome to the Monkeyhouse by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Palm Sunday/Welcome to the Monkeyhouse by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA diabolical government asserts control by eliminating orgasms from sex in the title story of Welcome to the Monkey House - setting the tone for a collection shot through with Vonnegut's acrid wit, and his bewilderment at the corruption of humanity... -
![20.000 Mijlen Onder Zee: Oostelijk Halfrond by Jules Verne]()
20.000 Mijlen Onder Zee: Oostelijk Halfrond by Jules Verne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsVolume 1 (of... -
![Imaginary Magnitude by Stanisław Lem]()
Imaginary Magnitude by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThese wickedly authentic introductions to twenty-first-century books preface tomes on teaching English to bacteria, using animated X-rays to create "pornograms," and analyzing computer-generated literature through the science of "bitistics." "Lem, a science fiction Bach, plays in this book a googleplex of variations on his basic themes" (New York Times Book Review). Translated by Marc E. Heine... -
![We Have Lost The Chihuahuas by Paul Mathews]()
We Have Lost The Chihuahuas by Paul Mathews
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLondon, 2046. The British Republic has a new First Lady. She’s Californian, ‘in-your-face, for sure’ and she’s got big plans for a Buckingham Palace refurb. When her three Chihuahuas go missing, one man is determined to avoid getting dragged into it all. His name is Pond. Howie Pond – presidential spokesperson, retired secret agent and cat lover... -
![The Works of Rudyard Kipling (500+ works) by Rudyard Kipling]()
The Works of Rudyard Kipling (500+ works) by Rudyard Kipling
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith A to Z Classics, discover or rediscover all the classics of literature... -
![The Beasts of Success by Jasun Ether]()
The Beasts of Success by Jasun Ether
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this dog-eat-dog world, three friends find themselves getting nowhere in their careers despite their education and work skills. They decide to make their own rules to the game of life and play dirty to get ahead. Each of them concoct schemes to sabotage colleagues and clear the path for their swift advancement... -
![The Exploding Detective by John Swartzwelder]()
The Exploding Detective by John Swartzwelder
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOne of a series of comedy science fiction novels featuring slow-witted detective Frank Burly. By John Swartzwelder, the author of "The Time Machine Did It", "Double Wonderful", "How I Conquered Your Planet", and 59 episodes of The Simpsons... -
![Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow by Ray Bradbury, John Cheever]()
Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow by Ray Bradbury, John Cheever
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAnthology... -
![The Best of Eric Frank Russell by Eric Frank Russell]()
The Best of Eric Frank Russell by Eric Frank Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings13 classic stories. Includes: Allamagoosa (1955 Hugo winner); Dear Devil (nominated, 1950 Retro Hugo); Mana; Jay Score; Homo Saps; Metamorphosite; Hobbyist; Late Night Final; Fast Falls the Eventide; I Am Nothing; Weak Spot; Into Your Tent I'll Creep; Study in Still Life. Introduction by Alan Dean Foster. 10th place, 1979 Locus Poll Award, Best Single Author Collection... -
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![Let's Put the Future Behind Us by Jack Womack]()
Let's Put the Future Behind Us by Jack Womack
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFormer bureaucrat Max Borodin is one of Moscow's most successful businessmen. He strolls through the wreckage of today's Russia with ease - convincing people to do his bidding, providing its citizens (both friends and clients) with the luxury goods they covet, and generally leading a prosperous and satisfying existence... -
![The Trimmed Lamp And Other Stories Of The Four Million by O. Henry]()
The Trimmed Lamp And Other Stories Of The Four Million by O. Henry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages... -
![Minor Angels by Antoine Volodine]()
Minor Angels by Antoine Volodine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom Antoine Volodine comes a deeply disturbing and darkly hilarious novel whose full meaning, its author asserts, will be found not in the book’s pages but in the dreams people will have after reading it. In Minor Angels Volodine depicts a postcataclysmic world in which the forces of capitalism have begun to reestablish themselves... -
![Paradox Lost, And Twelve Other Great Science Fiction Stories by Fredric Brown]()
Paradox Lost, And Twelve Other Great Science Fiction Stories by Fredric Brown
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA collection of thirteen short stories. Includes a three-page introduction by Elizabeth Brown, the author's widow... -
![Far Rainbow / The Second Invasion from Mars by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky]()
Far Rainbow / The Second Invasion from Mars by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo Soviet science fiction novels by the Strugatsky brothers. Introduction by Theodore Sturgeon... -
![Asimov on Science Fiction by Isaac Asimov]()
Asimov on Science Fiction by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsASIMOV:Grand Master of SFNo one knows science fiction as well as Isaac Asimov, the bestselling author of the FOUNDATION saga and many other classic works. He has taken part in all the significant developments and knows most of the important writers personally... -
![Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon]()
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![You Bright and Risen Angels by William T. Vollmann]()
You Bright and Risen Angels by William T. Vollmann
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIn the jungles of South America, on the ice fields of Alaska, the plains of the Midwest, and the streets of San Francisco, a fearsome battle rages. The insects are vying for world domination; the inventors of electricity stand in evil opposition. Bug , a young man, rebels against his own kind and joins forces with the insects... -
![Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLook at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories from one of the most original writers in all of American fiction... -
![Apocryphal Tales by Karel Čapek]()
Apocryphal Tales by Karel Čapek
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe stories in this collection tackle great events and figures of history, myth, and literature in unexpected ways, questioning views on such basic concepts as justice, progress, wisdom, belief, and patriotism... -
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![Why Visit America by Matthew Baker]()
Why Visit America by Matthew Baker
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsEqual parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Why Visit America form an exegesis of our current political predicament, while offering an eloquent plea for connection and hope.The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the broke-down United States... -
![Pilgrimage to Earth by Robert Sheckley]()
Pilgrimage to Earth by Robert Sheckley
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsPilgrimage to Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in October 1957 by Bantam Books (catalogue number A1672) and already reprinted a month later... -
![Buy Jupiter and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov]()
Buy Jupiter and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 27 ratings24 stories, by the Master.. -
![Dog Logic by Tom Strelich]()
Dog Logic by Tom Strelich
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIf "Dr. Strangelove" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" got together and had a litter of puppies you'd get "Dog Logic", a duck-and-cover fable and love story. Funny, inflammatory, and weirdly propheticHertell Daggett is the divorced and damaged caretaker of a failing pet cemetery on the outskirts of Bakersfield, and he's just discovered a lost civilization... -
![New American Stories by Ben Marcus]()
New American Stories by Ben Marcus
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn New American Stories, the beautiful, the strange, the melancholy, and the sublime all comingle to show the vast range of the American short story . In this remarkable anthology, Ben Marcus has corralled a vital and artistically singular crowd of contemporary fiction writers. Collected here are practitioners of deep realism, mind-blowing experimentalism, and every hybrid in between... -
![The Child Buyer by John Hersey]()
The Child Buyer by John Hersey
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis is a story of an investigation into the activities of Mr. Wissey Jones, a stranger who comes to the town of Pequot on urgent defense business. His business is to buy for his corporation children of a certain sort, in this case a ten-year-old named Barry Rudd, a budding genius of potentially critical value. A hearing is held and questions are asked: exactly why does Mr...
![ಕರ್ವಾಲೋ [Karvalo] by K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi](https://48f-1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/books/small/6240df60a911d2c3cdd95271.jpg)
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