Riders of the Purple Wage

Philip José Farmer
Riders of the Purple Wage Cover

A Pun Becomes a Plot

sdlotu
12/30/2020
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Farmer's title is a pun, but he builds a world around the idea that people have guaranteed income and can spend their time as they wish. The protagonist is a frustrated artist and his future hangs in the balance with a new art piece he needs to finish for a grant proposal. The story stretches time and human capacity in a typically Farmerian way.

It's not clear which is more important to Farmer, the plot or the puns. He continually weaves word play into the story both as embellishment and as story points, which can prove challenging to understand.

But that's what makes Farmer's work interesting to a great extent. In this case, he does it extremely well, thus the Hugo award. That said, many will find it unsatisflying or off-putting.

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