- Title: The Sheep Look Up
- Author: John Brunner (1934-1995)
- Cover design: Mark Rubin and Irving Freeman of Plum Studio. Read a little more about the cover on this 2016 post on Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations.
- Publisher: Ballantine Books
- Format: Paperback
- Year: This is the November 1973 first paperback printing. The novel was first published in 1972.
- Cover price: $1.65 (equivalent of about $11.50 today)
- Pages: 461
- Dedication: "To Isobel Grace Sauer (née Rosamond) 1887-1970 In Memoriam"
- Chapter titles: The novel is broken into 12 months, starting in December and ending in November. Each month has numerous short chapter titles.
- Epigraph: "PLEASE HELP KEEP PIER CLEAN THROW REFUSE OVERSIDE" — Sign pictured in God's Own Junkyard, edited by Peter Blake
- First sentences: Hunted? By wild animals? In broad daylight on the Santa Monica freeway? Mad! Mad!
- Last sentences: "The brigade would have a long way to go," the doctor told her curtly. "It's from America. The wind's blowing that way."
- Random excerpt from the middle #1: But if it was the simple life they were after, how come they used electricity? It was all very well to say it was clean power and be generated from waterfalls and tides. The fact stood: It hadn't been.
- Random excerpt from the middle #2: Naval commander: This is an emergency announcement from the Department of Defense, Navy. Hear this, hear this, all personnel currently on shore leave in the following states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, California. Report at once to the nearest Army or Air Force base or National Guard headquarters and place yourselves at the disposal of the commanding officer. Your assistance is required in quelling civil disorder. That is all.
- Rating on Goodreads: 3.91 stars (out of 5)
- Goodreads review excerpt #1: In 2020, Susan Budd, author of the highly recommended novella Felicity, wrote: "Why are all the dystopian novels I read in my teens coming true? I have to keep reminding myself that this is science fiction from the 70s, not real life here and now. ... When I first read The Sheep Look Up, I enjoyed it as I did most science-fiction — as a work of pure imagination. I didn’t see that Brunner’s dark vision of the future was a prophecy that I would see fulfilled. I was too young and unaware. ... Believe it or not, this book was the assigned reading in a high school English class I took back in the late 70s. Coolest teacher ever!"
- Goodreads review excerpt #2: In 2021, Bradley wrote: "The darkness in these pages should have made everyone in the '70s perk up and pay attention. We ignored all the warnings, however, and here we are. Again. And now we live in John Brunner's novel."
- Rating on Amazon: 4.2 stars (out of 5)
- Amazon review excerpt #1: In 2017, G wrote: "Plot-wise this is a bit dated, because the book has a massive focus on pollution, which some countries are in the process of correcting. You can look at this another way, though: what if the world didn't uncover the concept of 'green energy'? This is a good book in that sense. Lots of interesting thoughts and visuals. The main problem is that it's a tough read. It's disjointed with its scenes and characters, reading more like a short story collection than a true novel. There are also poems and fake commercials scattered throughout, along with ultra-short pieces (character interviews, conversations, quick events, and so on). So this is a good book to read, but I'm not sure I'd call it easy to get into."
- Amazon review excerpt #2: In 2019, Dena from Australia wrote: "Written in 1972, the dystopian world depicted in this book was remarkedly prescient. Readers can relate to many of the circumstances, ranging from the inability to develop effective antibiotics, to the deliberate poisoning of the environment to pursue maxi profts. While we have made a little progress in mitigating the worst aspects of predator capitalism, the ascendance to power of politicians such as Trump and his local and global equivalents threatens the survival of our world in much of the same way as depicted in the book."
- A few blog posts about the book: Gaping Blackbird, Salon Futura, Kate of Mind, and Mirabile Dictu.
Related Papergreat posts
- Sci-fi book cover: "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang"
- Surviving on Spaceship Earth
- The optimism of 45 years ago: "Doomsday Has Been Cancelled"
- Book cover: "Moment in the Sun"
- 1974 Scholastic book: "Captain Ecology, Pollution-Fighter"
- "The Monster Maker": A sci-fi film about pollution that didn't get made
- Postcrossing message of peace from Kazakhstan to Germany*
*-I'm no longer as optimistic as I expressed in this 2016 post.
We haven't had meaningful rain in Florence since roughly Labor Day.
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