The Pope of the Chimps
- Form
- Novelette
- Year
- 1982
Publication history
- 1982: Perpetual Light, Warner Mass market paperback
- 1983: The Best Science Fiction of the Year Vol. 12, Pocket Mass market paperback
- 1983: Nebula Award Stories 18, Arbor House Hard cover book
- 1984: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Arbor House Hard cover book
- 1984: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Science Fiction Book Club Hard cover book, 243 pp.
- 1985: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Bantam Mass market paperback, 317 pp.
- 1985: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Gollancz Hard cover book, 284 pp.
- 1987: Det brokiga cocktailpartyt, Korpen Mass market paperback, in Swedish
- 1989: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Gollancz Mass market paperback, 284 pp.
- 1991: Sacred Visions, Tor Mass market paperback
- 2000: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Peanut Press On-line
- 2000: Fictionwise, Fictionwise On-line
- 2000: Sci-Fi.com, On-line
- 2003: Voile vers Byzance: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 3, 1981-1987, Flammarion Trade paperback, 768 pp., in French as Le pape des chimpanzs
- 2004: Phases of the Moon, iBooks Trade paperback, 623 pp.
Blurb
(None on file)
Comments
Nominated for Nebula Award for best short story, 1982. This is the moving story of a long-term chimpanzee sign-language project. When one of the scientists studying the chimps gets leukemia and talks to them about death, the chimps develop a religion. Humans are above chimps, and God is above humans. When chimps die, they become human; when humans die, they go to God. The time period is unspecified (apparently late twentieth century), and there is no technology mentioned. In fact, some might say it's not science fiction at all. An interesting side note is that Silverberg, himself atheist, assumes a more or less Christian perspective for the story. Another odd thing is that the first person narrator is never given a name.
Other resources
(None on file)