Tom O'Bedlam (1985)

by Robert Silverberg

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rustyoldboat | May 28, 2011 |

Tom O'Bedlam is seen as a crazy person, raving about weird things like aliens and other planets and places and all sorts of other things that seem ludicrous to the people around him.

However, it is possible that Tom is really very sane, and the human race will need him and his abilities to communicate with and transport to other places.

That is if he isn't just really killing a bunch of people.

http://superprose.blogspot.com/2006/12/tom-obedlam.html (

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bluetyson | Dec 25, 2006 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Robert Silverberg	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Salwowski, Mark	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Original title

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Original publication date

1985

People/Characters

Tom O'Bedlam

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Epigraph

To consider the Earth the only populated world in infinte space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field sown with millet only one grain will grow. - Metrodoros the Epicurean c. 300 B.C.

Dedication

This One's for Don

First words

This time something had told Tom to try going westward.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0446340022, Mass Market Paperback)

"I know more than Apollo

Fort oft when he lies sleeping

I behold the starts at mortal wars

And the wounded wekin weeping."

--Tom O' Bedlam's song

Tom, like the medieval Tom O'Bedlam, can't decipher the meaning of the images plaguing his mind. Much like the wondering and mad Tom of the medieval ballad, the Tom O' Bedlam of 2103 doesn't know what to make of the images that keep cluttering his mind. To preserve the last shred of his sanity and keep these never-ending wonders a secret, he feigns insanity. But then a probe that has traveled over four light years away transmits the very pictures that have been haunting Tom's dreams.

In this post-industrial world on the verge of a total collapse, Tom has become humanity's spokesperson to the distant planet that may be his world's salvation.

(retrieved from Amazon Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:44:17 -0400)

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