Roderick Series by John Sladek

He isn't human; but he isn't all robot either. He started life in a lab, went to Parochial School, was kidnapped by gypsies, chased by roboticidal, and incompetent, hit-men, told fortunes on the Midway, and finally fostered by an elderly couple who gave up writing science fiction when their stories came true. He's Roderick, the first robot programmed to learn and think, and sent out into the world to re-invent it.. moreHe isn't human; but he isn't all robot either. He started life in a lab, went to Parochial School, was kidnapped by gypsies, chased by roboticidal, and incompetent, hit-men, told fortunes on the Midway, and finally fostered by an elderly couple who gave up writing science fiction when their stories came true. He's Roderick, the first robot programmed to learn and think, and sent out into the world to re-invent it...Prodigious, dazzling, inventive, RODERICK, is a modern masterpiece, a fabulous joyride through the whole crazy, zany funhouse of modern existence, and a parable about all human life.A classic novel...It reeks simultaneously of Candide, Catch-22, Player Piano, The Wizard of Oz - GuardianSuperb...comparable with - at time even overtaking - early Kurt Vonnegut - Time OutJohn Sladek is a science fiction writer whose novels are driven by an incisive, literate humour. IN fact he is downright funny. Mr Sladek's latest satire is up to his usual high standard...one of the few serious achievements in a medium which is rapidly exchanging innovation for self-indulgence...The prose is stunning, the characterisation immaculate, the insights unique: Roderick is a small masterpiece - Now!Cover illustration: Ray Winder less

Here is the continuing and uproarious saga of Roderick, a robot and "learning machine" growing up in an America in the near future. The mild-mannered robot is confronted with an ever-widening cast of madcap characters who typify the artificial values endemic in modern America.

Roderick is a robot who learns. He begins life looking like a toy tank, thinking like a child, and knowing nothing about human ways. But as he will discover, growing up and becoming fully human is no easy task in a world where many people seem to have little trouble giving up their humanity... moreRoderick is a robot who learns. He begins life looking like a toy tank, thinking like a child, and knowing nothing about human ways. But as he will discover, growing up and becoming fully human is no easy task in a world where many people seem to have little trouble giving up their humanity. The Complete Roderick is widely considered to be the most ambitious and genius work of a novelist described by The Encyclopedia of ScienceFiction as "the most formally inventive, the funniest, and very nearly the most melancholy of modern US science fiction writers." less