can somebody tell me what sci fi book this is?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know that if anyone can help me with this, Dopers can. Does the science fiction book I describe below sound familiar to anyone? I started reading it a long time ago and for some reason never finished it. Now I have no idea what it’s called or who wrote it, but I’d like to find it and finish it. Also, it’s been awhile, so I might have some of the details wrong…not that I have many in the first place…

The only things I remember:

  1. A major theme was disease/sickness. I think the world had been cured of almost all disease and sickness, such that anyone who had any kind of disease would be feared and somewhat ostracized. Children used “You disease!” as a playground epithet.

  2. I THINK this was the same book…people consumed nutrients (ate) through their skin. Dinner parties would consist of people getting together, taking off their clothes, and rolling around in some trough of nutrients, letting their skin absorb it. If people wore clothing of material that could be absorbed by the skin, pretty soon their skin would “eat” the clothes and the clothes would appear moth-eaten.

Note to Mods: If this belongs in another forum, please move it and accept my apologies. I thought of Cafe Society…but this is sort of a poll…thought my audience might be larger here…

2

Hmmm, sounds familiar… How about “A Brave New World” (is that the title?) The central theme was overpopulation though…

3

Sounds a bit like the Beggars trilogy by Nancy Kress, especially the last one Beggar’s Ride

Do you remember the Sleepless being important at all?

4

Brave New World - I don’t think so – I’ve not read it, but I think I would have remembered if that were it…

Beggar’s Ride! Yes! I think that’s it! That sounds familiar, and then I checked Beggar’s Ride on Amazon and the cover is definitely a book I used to have. Thanks much.

5

OK, tesseract :

It’s been many years since I read the thoroughly enjoyable book that used the term “tesseract”. I believe the term described a type of travel? Refresh my memory, please, with book title and author. This has been a question with me for several years, and now here you are, so…

Thanks in advance.

6

Uh, John, I don’t know if you’re pulling legs or not, but the book you’re asking about is Madeleine L’Engles A Wrinkle in Time.

7

Thanks, phouka ! No, not pulling legs at all. Ever and anon, the thought of that book would cross my mind, with a resulting blank. (Yes, it seems so simple after someone else finds it, but…??? ) Technologically impaired? After all, John Carter used swords on Mars.