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=                         Agent_to_the_Stars                         =
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                            Introduction
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'Agent to the Stars' is a science fiction novel by American writer
John Scalzi. It tells the story of Tom Stein, a young Hollywood agent
who is hired by an alien race to handle the revelation of their
presence to humanity.


                                Plot
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Tom Stein is a celebrity agent, representing a handful of Hollywood
actors, the most famous of which is Michelle Beck, an earnest but
brainless blonde who wants to break into serious acting despite having
very limited talent. Carl Lupo, Tom's boss, tells him to drop all his
clients in order to take on Joshua. Joshua, as it turns out, is a
Yherajk, an amorphous ameboid species that communicate through
olfactory transmission, and smell horrifically awful, that have
traveled to Earth in an asteroid to make first contact. Realizing they
fit the Hollywood movie description of an alien monster, the aliens
contacted Carl surreptitiously and created Joshua through an amalgam
of Yherajk and Carl's thoughts.

Joshua hides at Tom's house, and fuses with Ralph, an elderly dog that
Tom had been caring for, after Ralph suffered a heart attack. In order
to give Joshua something to do, he begins hiring Joshua the dog out
for roles, and he instantly becomes the most wanted canine actor in
Hollywood, given his apparent abilities.

Later, after a disastrous reading for a part in a Holocaust drama
movie, Michelle is accidentally smothered while making a special
effect mask for a sci-fi movie. Realizing that the Yherajk could heal
her by bonding, similar to how Joshua bonded with Ralph the dog, he
conspires to take her to the ship. This causes an uproar, as bonding
with a sentient member of a species is the most atrocious act among
the Yherjak, and also that Michelle committed suicide. Upon further
inspection, and learning that Michelle had suffocated by accident, the
Yherajk agree and Michelle reemerges, now a mental amalgam of Miranda,
Michelle and Joshua--who himself was an amalgam of two-thousand
Yherajk, Carl and Ralph the dog.

Tom pushes forward with the idea of casting Michelle in the Holocaust
film 'Hard Memories'. After meeting Tom's grandmother Sarah Rosenthal,
a Holocaust survivor, Michelle absorbs her memories and delivers a
blistering audition. The movie is an unparalleled success, and
Michelle wins an Academy Award for Best Actress. During her acceptance
speech, she gradually asserts her normal, clear gelatinous shape,
while making a call for acceptance regardless of appearance or form.
The Yherajk, revealed at last, are widely accepted.


                        Publication History
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Scalzi started 'Agent to the Stars' in 1997 as his "practice" novel,
to see if he could write a novel. He published it as a shareware novel
on his website 'Whatever' in 1999, requesting that readers send him $1
if they liked the story.  After five years, during which he reports he
made about $4,000, he stopped asking for further donations.

After the official printed release of Scalzi's second book, 'Old Man's
War', by Tor Books in 2005, a limited edition of 'Agent to the Stars'
was published in 2005 by Subterranean Press, with a cover by Mike
Krahulik of 'Penny Arcade' fame. Tor later released a trade paperback
edition in November 2008, and a mass market edition in December 2010.
An audiobook version narrated by Wil Wheaton was released on December
7, 2010.


                             Reception
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'Publishers Weekly' considered it to be "slick" and "lightweight",
with a "predictable plot" that was nonetheless "entertaining".
'Amazing Stories' described it as "disposable, cynical fun with a big
heart" and "rather low-key for a first contact story", with a
"knowingly silly set-up", "reasonably sharp" characters and dialogue,
and a realistic-feeling portrayal of life in a talent agency. The 'SF
Site' compared it to the work of Spider Robinson and Robert Heinlein,
calling it "(t)hought-provoking and entertaining", and praising Scalzi
for exploring the human tendency to couple morality with esthetics.


                           External links
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* [http://www.scalzi.com/agent/ 'Agent to the Stars' -- An Online
Novel]
* [http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20060716/ Unshelved
Book Club on 'Agent to the Stars']


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