The Light Fantastic: Science Fiction Classics From The Mainstream

by John Cheever, Gerald Kersh, Anthony Burgess

rare

Genres: Anthologies

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

John Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.

His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting anthology of stories that editor Harrison counted as science fiction from classic literary mainstream authors like Twain, Kipling, Borges, etc. It's an impressive line-up, and I suspect the book was assembled as something to be held out to people who claimed that they didn't like science fiction. It's a rather obscure book, and I don't believe it ever found its audience-- perhaps partially because the cover is just a shiny tangerine background with small salmon-covered type on it. It's an entertaining assemblage of curiosities.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

One star for concept, one for inclusion of The Machine Stops. Otherwise, weird and forgettable stories. I guess I like my SF to obey at least one of the conventions of the genre.

Introduction claims they'd have included By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét if it weren't already over-anthologized; I don't recognize the title so I guess that I'd better read it.

Need to find out, too, about the source of the line "on the coast of Coromandel where the early pumpkins blow...."

[Catnap · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

*The muse / Anthony Burgess
*The unsafe deposit box / Gerald Kersh
*Something strange / Kingsley Amis
*Sold to Satan / Mark Twain
The end of the party / Graham Greene --3
*The circular ruins / Jorge Luis Borges
The shout / Robert Graves --2
The door / EB White --1
The machine stops / EM Forster --2
The Mark Gable foundation / Leo Szilard
The enormous radio / John Cheever --3
*The finest story in the world / Rudyard Kipling
*The shoddy lands / CS Lewis