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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein
@sstein.bsky.social
4.2K followers 320 following 8.2K posts
Latest novel: THE GREAT AMERICAN BETRAYAL "Best Comedy Books of 2022" —Vulture English professor, novelist, satirist, father, husband, dog owner, gardener, liker of good beer https://scottsteinonline.com
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · Dec 3
If you're a literary/film agent or work in animation, television, streaming, comics, video games, my novels are available for adaptation. They've been compared to Douglas Adams, Twin Peaks meets Futurama, Monty Python meets Sam Spade. See reviews from Publishers Weekly (starred), Vulture, Kirkus.
screenshot of Publishers Weekly starred review of The Great American Deception. Full text at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-946501-21-9 Excerpt: “Stein delivers a madcap sci-fi take on the hard-boiled detective genre in this fun, near-future romp that’s chock-full of rapid-fire wit, tongue-in-cheek literary allusions, and playful futuristic absurdity… Stein keeps the stakes high and the laughs coming … Sure to appeal to fans of Douglas Adams, this zany, uproarious mystery is a constant delight.” More info about the book at https://scottsteinonline.com/books/the-great-american-deception/ screenshot of Kirkus Review of The Great American Deception full text at https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/scott-stein/the-great-american-deception/ An amusing SF private eye/coffee spoof chock-full of silicon circuits and served with laughs. In a giant, futuristic mall, a coffee machine with artificial intelligence excitedly narrates the exploits of its new owner, a retro-style, hard-boiled gumshoe. Stein’s (Lost, 2019) satirical SF detective yarn at least initially owes much to Douglas Adams before the material finds its own humorous tone. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fans may recall Adams’ ancillary detail of robotic home appliances with “Real People Personalities,” often annoying, single-minded entities. And coffee machines were among those conveniences so accessorized. Arjay, the first-person (or first-gadget?) narrator here, is such a device, an ever upbeat, persistent, and talkative “top of the line” coffee maker. Arjay gets delivered to Frank Harken, a private eye of the old school, whose beat is the Great American, a fortresslike, coast-to-coast shopping/dining/entertainment/residential mall (shades of Somtow Sucharitkul’s Mallworld). The mall is a consumer paradise and haven for the elite in an otherwise ill-described (but doubtlessly unpleasant) future United States. Because of a prime directive to serve coffee in any circumstance, Arjay is mobile, resourceful, multilimbed, and filled with extra goodies such as laser cutters. The AI becomes sidekick to bemused tough-guy Harken. The chipper appliance recounts their initial case together, a missing custom-dentistry heiress named Winsome Smiles, connected to shady characters and now apparently kidnapped. Arjay’s enthusiastic narration takes readers through not only the standard private investigator clichés (mobsters, clueless authorities, duplicitous dames), but also bizarre boutiques and services (“legstentions”), literary references encompassing The Princess Bride and Edgar Allan Poe, a… screenshot of review of The Great American Betrayal in Vulture.com naming it one of The Best Comedy Books of 2022 full text at https://www.vulture.com/article/best-comedy-books-2022.html screenshot of books selected by Vulture.com as The Best Comedy Books of 2022. Full list and text at https://www.vulture.com/article/best-comedy-books-2022.html
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Reposted by Scott Stein
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 15h
My latest is "People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize"
whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2025/10/10/p...
People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize
Vladimir Putin Skeletor Norman Bates The guy ahead of you in the kindergarten pickup line whose truck has a “Fuck Your Feelings” bumper sticker
whenfallsthecoliseum.com
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 13h
On the other hand, I have more free time and less stress now that I don't care about the baseball playoffs.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 15h
My latest is "People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize"
whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2025/10/10/p...
People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize
Vladimir Putin Skeletor Norman Bates The guy ahead of you in the kindergarten pickup line whose truck has a “Fuck Your Feelings” bumper sticker
whenfallsthecoliseum.com
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 15h
My latest is "People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize"
whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2025/10/10/p...
People who didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize
Vladimir Putin Skeletor Norman Bates The guy ahead of you in the kindergarten pickup line whose truck has a “Fuck Your Feelings” bumper sticker
whenfallsthecoliseum.com
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 17h
Paying bears should be voluntary.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 18h
Guy in the chicken costume
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 18h
Inflatable Frog 2028
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 21h
Sherman 2028
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 21h
This is the site I run. A couple of younger writers (current college student and a recent grad) have just signed up and the site's few other currently active contributors are, like me, mostly teachers/writers/professors who are as old as dirt.
thecoliseum.bsky.social
When Falls the Coliseum @thecoliseum.bsky.social · 21h
We're still looking for writers, essayists, reviewers, humorists, cartoonists, bloggers who have something to say and want a place to say it. Visit whenfallsthecoliseum.com and see the submissions page. Might be of interest to professors, students, recent grads. #academicsky
When Falls the Coliseum
a journal of American culture (or lack thereof)
whenfallsthecoliseum.com
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 23h
Snubbed again.
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Sherman is basically Philly's regional rail system
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Playoff baseball should be illegal.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
But at least things used to be terrible.
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Go baseball birds!
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
It’s an insult to rejoinders
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Whole regional rail system is down. I’m stranded in Philadelphia. Send a rescue crew.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
And... the train had issues and had to drop everyone off at a stop halfway to my destination and I ended up splitting an Uber with a Drexel and a Penn student from that train station. In case you're wondering about the state of public transportation around Philly.
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
SEPTA regional rail announcement: Your commute today is going to suck
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Shark News Network (SNN) would probably make a lot of money.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
I'm getting lots of AI book-promotion pitches that try to sound like they have read my novels and think flattering me will make me want to pay them.
Reposted by Scott Stein
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 2d
My students are currently writing a paper about part 4 of Gulliver's Travels. What would Gulliver think about a specific aspect of American society or culture in 2025? #academicsky
In this paper, you will explain what Gulliver (from Gulliver’s Travels) would think of a particular aspect of current American society or culture. The analysis of Gulliver’s opinion must be based on his A Voyage to the Houyhnhms, providing examples and evidence from Swift’s book as well as outside sources related to the topic. You are not writing about what someone from Swift’s time would think of America today. The focus must be specifically on Gulliver and the text we read.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Buster says hi from his little bed in the kitchen.
A mini labradoodle looking at the camera. Lying on a beige dog bed on a tile floor.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d
Have you tried asking Habeas Corpus to fix it? Oh, right, they're suspended.
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 2d
I saw Habeas Corpus open for E Pluribus Unum
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sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 2d
bsky.app/profile/sste...
sstein.bsky.social
Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 2d
At least in Idiocracy the leaders wanted what was best for the country.
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