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chasing_dallas's review
3.0
meehhhh interesting but not...tried to make it thought he whole thing but jeez it took a lot of effort. I wouldn't recommend unless strangely compelled
jaeclectic's review
2.0
I picked this up in a discount book store several years ago, but it didn't hold my interest so it got set aside. Still, it seemed like such a good concept that I wanted to give it another try (even knowing that such things don't necessarily age well, and a book about science fiction and culture published in 1998 is bound to seem a bit dated more than a decade later). So, I finally picked it up again several months ago, and have been reading it very, very slowly, in between and amongst other things.
Overall, it is not impressive. The word rambling might sum it up. Quite often, the logic of the connections that Disch tried to make completely eluded me. Often the best parts are his gossipy asides about the many science fiction writers that he has known personally.
The chapter on feminism would have been offensive if it wasn't so absurd as to be amusing. He seems to have a very personal animus (and indeed paranoia) directed at Ursula LeGuin. He starts off with a flat statement that "no one reads her books for fun".
*pause to let that sink in*
He then goes on at length about an anthology that she edited -- very important, according to him, although I'd never heard of it -- and insists that she deliberately picked inferior (and short) works by male authors in order to make the selections by female authors look better. Now that's dedication to a cause!
Similarly, I was rather entertained while also appalled at his (apparently quite serious) conflation of fandom with cult religion.
And so on. Overall, I'm not sorry I finally ploughed my way through it, but I can't say I recommend it. Perhaps someone else will (or has already) taken a similar concept and done it somewhat better...
Overall, it is not impressive. The word rambling might sum it up. Quite often, the logic of the connections that Disch tried to make completely eluded me. Often the best parts are his gossipy asides about the many science fiction writers that he has known personally.
The chapter on feminism would have been offensive if it wasn't so absurd as to be amusing. He seems to have a very personal animus (and indeed paranoia) directed at Ursula LeGuin. He starts off with a flat statement that "no one reads her books for fun".
*pause to let that sink in*
He then goes on at length about an anthology that she edited -- very important, according to him, although I'd never heard of it -- and insists that she deliberately picked inferior (and short) works by male authors in order to make the selections by female authors look better. Now that's dedication to a cause!
Similarly, I was rather entertained while also appalled at his (apparently quite serious) conflation of fandom with cult religion.
And so on. Overall, I'm not sorry I finally ploughed my way through it, but I can't say I recommend it. Perhaps someone else will (or has already) taken a similar concept and done it somewhat better...
kellswitch's review
3.0
I am a bit mixed on this one. On one hand, it was well written and informative and I found many of his points interesting even if I didn't agree with them. On the other hand, well I don't think Thomas Disch really enjoyed science fiction and it's culture all that much. He spent a lot of time pointing the more negative aspects of science fiction, and working really, really hard to create some that I didn't feel actually had anything to do with science fiction in the first place. He also seemed to have an occasional ax to grind and grudges to express though he never really slipped all the way over in to bitterness or meanness. And I have no idea what Oliver North has to do with any of this.
The book was writing in 1998 and a lot has changed in science fiction since he wrote it, and it felt dated many times but I found myself wondering a lot how his perspective may have changed had he be able to up date in today 19s world, sadly not a possibility anymore.
His insiders view of the earlier days of science fiction, and of the culture of the time, were fascinating and there were more than a few things I had never heard before from anyone else and overall I found this book interesting and worth reading, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting from the title.
The book was writing in 1998 and a lot has changed in science fiction since he wrote it, and it felt dated many times but I found myself wondering a lot how his perspective may have changed had he be able to up date in today 19s world, sadly not a possibility anymore.
His insiders view of the earlier days of science fiction, and of the culture of the time, were fascinating and there were more than a few things I had never heard before from anyone else and overall I found this book interesting and worth reading, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting from the title.
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