Gun, with Occasional Music

''Gun, with Occasional Music'' is a 1994 novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem that blends science fiction and hardboiled detective fiction. The novel won Lethem the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1995. It was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994 and the cover art, illustrated by pulp artist Michael Koelsch, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Original Art Work in 1995.

Plot

The novel follows the adventures of Conrad Metcalf, a tough, smart-alecky private detective, through a futuristic version of San Francisco and Oakland, California. Metcalf is hired by a man who claims that he's being framed for the murder of a prominent urologist. Metcalf quickly discovers that nobody wants the case solved: not the victim's ex-wife, not the police, and certainly not the gun-toting kangaroo who works for the local mafia boss.

Characters

* Conrad Metcalf – Hardboiled private "inquisitor".
* Maynard Stanhunt – Doctor who is murdered before the novel begins.
* Orton Angwine – Man accused of murdering Maynard Stanhunt.
* Delia Limetree – Woman who switched sexual nerve endings with Metcalf; mentioned only once.
* Theodore Twostrand – Scientist who invented evolution therapy.
* Celeste Stanhunt – Dr. Stanhunt's widow
* Sasha – Kitten whose brain has been accelerated by evolution therapy, known as an "evolved" kitten
* Grover Testafer – Doctor who shared a practice with Maynard Stanhunt
* Morgenlander – An inquisitor for "The Office"
* Kornfeld – An inquisitor for The Office
* Shand – Human clerk at the Vistamont Hotel
* Danny Phoneblum – A local gangster
* Joey Castle – an evolved kangaroo (and thug) employed by Phoneblum
* Pansy Greenleaf – Blanketrol-addicted woman with whom Celeste Stanhunt lives
* Dulcie – An evolved ewe employed by Testafer.
* Barry Greenleaf – An evolved child, otherwise known as a "babyhead"
* Catherine Teleprompter – An inquisitor for "The Office"
* Maker – Not a name, but a job title; scientist who makes "blends" of make at a makery
* Cole Bayzwaite – Architect
* Walter Surface – Private "inquisitor" and evolved ape.
* Nancy – Surface's companion
* Woofer – A baby-head
* Tweeter – A baby-head
* Overholt – Works for Phoneblum out of a bar called the Fickle Muse

Major themes

In the novel, thanks to technology, children can become smarter and more cynical than adults; such children are known as ''baby-heads''. "Baby-heads" have their own subculture and bars, and can drink alcohol. Animals, too, can be given the intelligence of a human being through bioscientific techniques, a concept explored previously by David Brin

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