Venus on the Half Shell. The Other Diary of Phileas Fogg.

Phileas Fogg, Captain Nemo, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage… Familiar literary characters from childhood are so dear to readers that other authors are not averse to dusting off the yellowed pages of time and continuing the adventures of imaginary idols, thus giving new meanings to beloved heroes. Philip Farmer is one of the undisputed fans of the "revival" of classics. He conceived a peculiar literary game in 1975, persuading Kurt Vonnegut to let him use his favorite character, the failed writer Kilgore Trout, from whose name "Venus on the Half Shell" is written. Unfortunately, Farmer's grand plans to compile a collection in which his fellow writers would create works under the masks of fictional literati did not come to fruition. However, Farmer's inexhaustible energy was more than enough for numerous novels and stories, in which heroes of cloak and dagger, periscope and sextant, blaster and assegai compete with each other, and their extraordinary adventures are illuminated by the noble engravings of Jules Verne, Herbert Wells, William Burroughs, and other worthy members of the adventure guild. The collection also includes "The Other Diary of Phileas Fogg," which uncovers the mystery of the deadly confrontation between two close acquaintances of Jules Verne – Phileas Fogg and Captain Nemo.