The Best of Xero [Hardcover]

Pat Lupoff (Author), Dick Lupoff (Author), Roger Ebert (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

This volume contains a selection of essays from Pat and Dick Lupoff's legendary science fiction fanzine Xero. Provided are historical snapshots of the science fiction world in the early 1960s as it was lived by a mix of writers. Highlights include Donald Westlake's humorous denouncement of science fiction field and the reasons he quit writing science fiction to write mystery novels; James Blish's nostalgic look back to his stint writing scripts for the popular Captain Video serial; Lin Carter's parody of Sax Rohmar's “Fu Manchu” novels; Don Thompson’s thoughts on the origins of the ultra-powerful and mysterious comic book characters Dr. Fate and the Spectre; and Harlan Ellison on the film Psycho.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beautifully laid out and lots of fun to read . . . with lots of witty writing, fascinating illustrations . . . " -- The Agony Column

"The book as a whole is fun, intelligent, historically interesting and still relevant: much to be recommended." -- SF Site

About the Author

Pat Lupoff is a children's book buyer and is a former editor of Xero. Dick Lupoff is the author of several volumes of short stories and has been an editor for Canyon Press, Changes, Crawdaddy, Organ, Surinam Turtle Press, and Xero. They both live in Berkeley, California. Roger Ebert was an original contributor to Xero and is now a film critic on television and for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Tachyon Publications (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892391112
• ISBN-13: 978-1892391117
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,750,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was fandom... (a glimpse), May 18, 2006

By 

Extollager (Mayville, ND United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Xero (Hardcover)

[I should state at the outset that I did not read evry word of this book.]

Xero was a fanzine, a home-made magazine dedicated to the hobbies/literary passions of its editors -- in this case, science fiction, comic books, etc. This was true alternative press stuff, if you like, and the book should be purchased by many colleges and universities with library collections supportive of the history of same. The book appropriately suggests a pre-Internet kind of reader-writer engagement was going on. I'm reminded also of the "underground" press phenomenon that was to emerge a few years later. (Xero dates to 196-62.) For members of the small "communities" of often widely-separated science fiction and comics fans, fanzines arrived in mailboxes as letters from one's own country (of the imagination). Of course a lot of what went on was just chat.

I found plenty in this book that was still of interest -- in fact, one piece of information that was very useful for an article I've just submitted.

The publishers have wisely included a generous helping of letters of comments (LOCs) published in the lively pages of this classic early-Sixties fanzine.

It would be good to see similar anthologies drawing on (say) the pages of Tolkien-related fanzines from years prior to and close to the first wave of mass popularity circa 1966.