false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171733684m/117084.jpg 117084 2 In <i>The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of</I>, Thomas Disch does for science fiction what he did for poetry in <i>The Castle of Indolence</I>. First, he treats it not as a playground for idle dreamers, but as a branch of serious literature with significant cultural impact. Second, he brings the perspective of a seasoned practitioner to bear in separating the wheat from the chaff.<p> 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.<p> 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, <i>The Number of the Beast</I>, is described as "the freakout to which [Heinlein]'s entitled as a good American, whose right to lie is protected by the Constitution."<p> What <i>does</I> 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 <i>The Forever War</I>, described as being "to the Vietnam War what <i>Catch-22</I> was to World War II," and which he believes deserved a Pulitzer as well.<p> 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. 112748 book 5 7 1998 The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World total:80|5:24|4:33|3:21|2:2|1:0| 80 319 157 11 4 1 true false Wed Oct 24 16:02:08 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 29 10:19:47 -0700 2008
Disch is wonderfully opinionated and ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 10 08:05:05 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 12 12:48:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 19 22:08:41 -0700 2008 Tue May 05 15:32:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 14 10:59:26 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 08:18:46 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 10:59:26 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sun Mar 25 06:21:50 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 21 23:43:51 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Fri Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Mon Jul 07 21:11:22 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 21:33:26 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Thu Nov 15 09:06:20 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 09:07:47 -0800 2007 2 0 false false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 18:52:09 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 20:58:22 -0700 2009 ]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 12 14:24:08 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 08:25:42 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 14:24:08 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed May 02 12:12:23 -0700 2007 Mon May 07 17:17:49 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat May 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jan 01 20:12:30 -0800 2009 Sat May 23 00:28:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 26 16:32:39 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 26 16:33:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 25 15:34:15 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 15:34:15 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 22 12:05:55 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 12:05:59 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 19 18:57:52 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 18:58:01 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 09 04:47:35 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 04:47:37 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 09 01:00:51 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 01:00:54 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Nov 03 11:06:46 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 11:06:46 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 03 00:35:01 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 00:35:01 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 08:59:26 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 08:59:26 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=117084