science fiction
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The Unsettling Visions Of Thomas Disch
“Fantasy is not avoidable. The very act of writing fiction is a sin, a lie. One of Disch’s most haunting stories, ‘Getting Into Death,’ is about a writer (one who uses two pseudonyms, at least one of which Disch used…
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Staging A Beautiful Apocalypse
Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite living writers, Samuel R. Delany. (I spoke once here before about how I share with Junot Diaz an abiding love for Delany’s work.) All it took for him to become…
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The Rumpus Sunday Book Blog Roundup
Someone bought Agatha Christie’s old “battered” trunk for a hundred quid at auction, and in it, she found some jewels, most likely from the great mystery writer’s infamous collection. (via Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind) Someone made a font out of Franz…
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Morning Coffee
Today’s theme is things that are good. These appeal to me on at least three levels: 1980’s subway photography. The top fonts of 2009. “The primary goal is to change the attitude towards living on a houseboat.” Seed Magazine on…
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The Undefinable Genre Of Science Fantasy
“Felicino: I thought writers were the least reliable guys when it comes to define what they’re writing. And most of them don’t really care. Gio: Well, as a reader and a writer, I care. Let’s see what they say out…
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Science Fiction Predicts The Present
“Science fiction writers don’t predict the future (except accidentally), but if they’re very good, they may manage to predict the present. Mary Shelley wasn’t worried about reanimated corpses stalking Europe, but by casting a technological innovation in the starring role of Frankenstein,…
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Africa and Science Fiction
Nnedi Okorafor has an essay over at The Nebula Awards site about Africa’s relationship with science fiction, as well as a discussion on Penguin’s decision to make science fiction ineligible for The Penguin Prize for African Writing. “As (director Tchidi)…
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Lethem on the “Squandered Promise” of Science Fiction
“In 1973 Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow was awarded the Nebula, the highest honor available in the field once known as “science fiction” — a term now mostly forgotten. “Sorry, just dreaming… [T]hough Gravity’s Rainbow really was nominated for the 1973…
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The Rumpus Sunday Book Blog Roundup
This week, the book blogs are scaring the ever-loving Jesus out of me. Sure, there have been a few fun, interesting updates and interviews, but most of what they’ve been saying makes me want to build a series of tunnels…