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For example, if you ever wanted to know why L. Ron Hubbard managed to start a cult but Philip K. Dick didn't, Disch is your man. Beginning with Edgar Allan Poe, Disch elaborates a vision of science fiction as one of the twentieth century's most influential manifestations of America as a culture of liars. Among the frauds are the alien abduction stories of Whitley Strieber, the sadomasochistic dominance fantasies of John Norman, and the co-opting of cyberpunk by postmodern academics and avant-gardists trying to stay hip.
Disch plays very few favorites, and when ideology gets in the way of good writing, it doesn't matter what side you're on. Subliterary feminist fantasies of matriarchial utopias get slammed just as hard as subliterary conservative militaristic wet dreams. Not even one of sci-fi's most beloved Grand Masters, Robert Heinlein, is unimpeachable; Disch correctly nails Heinlein on his consistent sexism and racism, as well as his gradual descent into solipsism. One of Heinlein's last novels, The Number of the Beast, is described as "the freakout to which [Heinlein]'s entitled as a good American, whose right to lie is protected by the Constitution."
What does Disch like? For starters: Philip K. Dick, the British New Wave as exemplified by J. G. Ballard and Michael Moorcock, and Joe Haldeman's Hugo- and Nebula-winning The Forever War, described as being "to the Vietnam War what Catch-22 was to World War II," and which he believes deserved a Pulitzer as well.
Disch may confirm your suspicions, or he may raise every last one of your hackles. But one thing this book will definitely not do is bore you.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. In shrink wrap. Seller Inventory # 50-03863
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. 1.05. Seller Inventory # 0684824051-2-1
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. First edition, 1st printing. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread in NEW condition. "From the acclaimed science fiction writer Thomas M. Disch comes THE DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF, a keenly perceptive account of the impact science fiction has had on American culture. As only a consummate insider would, Disch provides a fascinating view of this world and its inhabitants, tracing its phenomenal growth into the global entertainment industry it is today. If America is a 'nation of liars,' as Disch asserts in this provocative cultural history, then science fiction is the most American of literary genres. From the protoscience-fiction tales of Edgar Allan Poe, to the utopian dreams and technological nightmares of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and J.G. Ballard, to American conservatives Robert Heinlein and Jerry Pournelle, liberals Joe Haldeman and Ursula Le Guin, flakes William Burroughs and Philip K. Dick, and outright charlatans Ignatius Donnelly and various UFO 'witnesses,' Disch emphasizes science fiction's cultural role as both a lens and a medium for the very rapid changes driven by modern technology, highlighting its powers of prediction and prevarication. Much more than a history of the genre, THE DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF is an in-depth study of its ever-growing interaction with all aspects of culture---politics, religion, and the fabric of our daily lives---showing how it has become a cultural battlefield while helping us to adjust to new social realities. Behind the spaceships and aliens Disch reveals the blueprints of the dizzying postmodern future we have already begun to inhabit."[]"Thomas Disch, always ruefully wise and exuberantly visionary, gives us a superbly disturbing meditation on the triumph of science fiction over our expiring (or is it expired?) culture."---Harold Bloom. Pristine copy, binding square & tight, sharp corners & crisp edges, quite presentable & collectible. Seller Inventory # RUB885
Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.05. Seller Inventory # Q-0684824051