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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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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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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 15m

Have you tried asking Habeas Corpus to fix it? Oh, right, they're suspended.

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 49m

I saw Habeas Corpus open for E Pluribus Unum

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 13h

bsky.app/profile/sste...

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 20h

At least in Idiocracy the leaders wanted what was best for the country.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 14h

Excellent beer, terrible apostro’phe.

Beer glass and bottle on a kitchen counter. GREAT’ER PUMPKIN

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 15h

He's tired of democracy.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

Trump is fighting sleep during this antifa roundtable and sleep is gaining the upper hand

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 16h

At the least they should write: The Department of War (formerly Twitter)

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 16h

CNN is also calling all bodies of water the Gulf of America.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 16h

“We’re going to hold them fairly to account, and by that we mean we’ll use the propaganda term they invented and not the legal name for the department. In short, MAGA.”

Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 17h

CNN is now using the Trump preferred “Department of War” name in its official statements

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 20h

Dog spelled backwards is God but that doesn't mean you should crucify it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Eric Trump: "You saw what Jake Tapper did to Lara Trump. She said what everybody knew and everybody was saying and he came out and crucified her like a dog. They have tried to kill us at every road."

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 20h

At least in Idiocracy the leaders wanted what was best for the country.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 20h

bsky.app/profile/sste...

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 21h

The Speaker of the House is the lowest-information voter in American history.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21h

Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 20h

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.

Reposted by Scott Stein

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

I am once again reminding you that the album Darkness on the Edge of Town is great and you should listen to it if you have ever wondered what the big deal is with this Bruce Springsteen fellow.

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 21h

The Speaker of the House is the lowest-information voter in American history.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21h

Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 23h

I agree and I think many if not most people really have no idea what is going on.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

haha, I need more caffeine

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

Looking forward to hearing his big hit "esterday"

Reposted by Scott Stein

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

I'm writing book 3 in a sci-fi detective trilogy narrated by a coffee machine robot. Book 1 got a star from Publishers Weekly; book 2 was named one of the best comedy books of 2022 by Vulture.

www.amazon.com/dp/B08RB4S319

scottsteinonline.com/books/the-gr...
scottsteinonline.com/books/the-gr...

The Great American Deception
Scott Stein. Tiny Fox, $14.27 trade paper (228p) ISBN 978-1-946501-21-9
Stein (Mean Martin Manning) 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. Arjay, a sentient, top-of-the-line coffee machine with an excess of pep, tags along on the cases of old-school PI Frank Harken within the luxurious but dystopian confines of the Great American—a giant, autonomous, U.S.-coast-spanning shopping mall. Though the grumpy gumshoe is not always thrilled by Arjay’s presence, he can’t deny that the bot makes a “damn fine” cup of coffee. When one of the Great American’s inhabitants, Pretty Lovely, hires Harken to find her sister, kidnapped heiress Winsome Smiles, Harken and Arjay are plunged into Great American’s underbelly, where they encounter genre staples including mobsters and incompetent cops. Stein keeps the stakes high and the laughs coming, juxtaposing the gritty mystery and dystopian setting with Arjay’s perky narration to excellent effect. Sure to appeal to fans of Douglas Adams, this zany, uproarious mystery is a constant delight. (May)

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

I am once again reminding you that the album Darkness on the Edge of Town is great and you should listen to it if you have ever wondered what the big deal is with this Bruce Springsteen fellow.

1 2

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

It’s autumn but the backyard bees are still working.

Bee covered in pollen in a flower. Lavender chiffon purple pillar rose of sharon

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Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/sste...

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 6d

The Speaker of the House is a low-information voter.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 6d

The next time Mike Johnson lies that he hasn’t seen the latest Trump screwup that the rest of the nation is discussing, the TV anchor should just quietly say “that’s ok, not everyone follows politics.”

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

Always a good idea. bsky.app/profile/sste...

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

These are anxiety-inducing times and it's hard not to feel like the world is out to get you, but rereading Kafka over the next few months should help.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 3d

It’s only week three of fall academic quarter, but I’ve picked the required books for my winter quarter course, “Major Authors: Franz Kafka”

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

Talking with students today about the Poul Anderson story "The Man Who Came Early," an opportunity to cultivate generational intellectual humility. I will ask them if their being from 2025 would make them superior to other people if we sent them back in time 100 or 1000 years.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 1d

These are anxiety-inducing times and it's hard not to feel like the world is out to get you, but rereading Kafka over the next few months should help.

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 3d

It’s only week three of fall academic quarter, but I’ve picked the required books for my winter quarter course, “Major Authors: Franz Kafka”

Two books on a wood table. The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka and The Trial by Franz Kafka. Schocken Books for both.

Reposted by Scott Stein

Scott Stein @sstein.bsky.social · 2d

By the way, if you like audio books, you might enjoy listening to The Great American Deception. The narrator did a fantastic job with my 2020 novel. Read the reviews.
www.audible.com/pd/The-Great...

The Great American Deception

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. A damsel in distress. A dangerous dame. A metric ton of coffee. Private investigator Frank Harken’s worldwide fame has only made him more cynical. And livin...