Living up to essayist and science fiction author Delany's reputation for pushing literary and cultural boundaries, these 25 essays, interviews and reviews, all of which appeared between 1987 and 1998 in a variety of literary magazines and anthologies, encompass both traditional literary criticism and autobiography. From his explication of Jacques Derrida's literary theories as applied to U.S. science fiction to his analysis of the African-American s&m scene and its effect on his writing, Delany's remarkable erudition is as evident as his ability to generate controversy. In a provocative essay, "Pornography and Censorship," he discusses how critical evaluations of pornography and other sexual writings would be more valid if the critics discussed their own arousal. In "The Making of Hogg," Delany discusses the writing and the critical reception of his novel, which was considered so sexually violent that it took 22 years for it to be published. In the middle of an interview about the literary canon, he includes a 10-page riff, replete with new scholarship, on how the suppression of information about Stephen Crane's homosexuality has helped to secure Crane's place in American literature. Delany's third book this year (after Times Square Red, Times Square Blue and Bread & Wine), this important collection demonstrates his passion and intelligence, and his dedication to pursuing difficult questions about writing, theory, teaching and sexuality. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Delany's (Times Square Red) sf novels have won Hugo and Nebula awards; now, he has compiled for publication 25 of his nonfiction essays on the subjects of queerness, writing, and "paraliterature." In a piece called "Neither the First Word Nor the Last on Deconstruction, Poststructuralism, and Semiotics for SF Readers," Delany draws on both his facility with modern critical theory and his commitment to the "paraliterary" (sf, pornography, mysteries, comic books, and other creative forms). In "The Para*Doxa Interview," he ruminates brilliantly on the nature of literary canonization through a riveting investigation of how Thomas Beer's fraudulent 1923 biography of Stephen Crane lifted the author of The Red Badge of Courage to exalted heights. The last section introduces readers to a batch of his contemporaries, from sf writer Michael Perkins to A.S. Byatt. Delany's erudition and use of contemporary critical terminology can be daunting, his writing style tangled and difficult. But this book will strongly appeal to a select group of brave readers who have the patience to follow a daringly original mind at work. For academic libraries.
-Charles Crawford Nash, Cottey Coll., Nevada, MO
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"This important collection demonstrates [Delany's] passion and intelligence, and his dedication to pursuing difficult questions about writing, theory, teaching and sexuality."―Publishers Weekly
"This important collection demonstrates [Delany's] passion and intelligence, and his dedication to pursuing difficult questions about writing, theory, teaching and sexuality."―Publishers Weekly
"A daringly original mind at work."―Library Journal
"Delany always seems to be everywhere at once. At one moment writing some of the most fulfilling prose ever achieved by an American speculative fiction writer, at another tackling the most knotty theoretical issues within deconstruction, and at yet another producing frank, hot, outrageously delectable essays on his life as a New Yorker, a gay man, and a Black American. Delany's newest collection, Shorter Views, gives one perhaps the clearest sense of how all these aspects of Delany's work operate both with and against one another."―Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Johns Hopkins University
"Delany always seems to be everywhere at once. At one moment writing some of the most fulfilling prose ever achieved by an American speculative fiction writer, at another tackling the most knotty theoretical issues within deconstruction, and at yet another producing frank, hot, outrageously delectable essays on his life as a New Yorker, a gay man, and a Black American. Delany's newest collection, Shorter Views, gives one perhaps the clearest sense of how all these aspects of Delany's work operate both with and against one another."―Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Johns Hopkins University
Review
“Delany always seems to be everywhere at once. At one moment writing some of the most fulfilling prose ever achieved by an American speculative fiction writer, at another tackling the most knotty theoretical issues within deconstruction, and at yet another producing frank, hot, outrageously delectable essays on his life as a New Yorker, a gay man, and a Black American. Delany’s newest collection, Shorter Views, gives one perhaps the clearest sense of how all these aspects of Delany’s work operate both with and against one another.” (Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Johns Hopkins University)
Review
"This important collection demonstrates [Delany's] passion and intelligence, and his dedication to pursuing difficult questions about writing, theory, teaching and sexuality."―Publishers Weekly
"This important collection demonstrates [Delany's] passion and intelligence, and his dedication to pursuing difficult questions about writing, theory, teaching and sexuality."―Publishers Weekly
"A daringly original mind at work."―Library Journal
From the Publisher
SAMUEL R. DELANY's many prizes include the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the William Whitehead Memorial Award for a lifetime's contribution to gay and lesbian literature. Wesleyan has published both his fiction and nonfiction, including Atlantis: three tales (1995), Silent Interviews: On Language, Race, Sex, Science Fiction, and Some Comics (1994) and Longer Views: Extended Essays (1996). The press has also reissued his classic science fiction and fantasy novels Dhalgren (1996), Trouble on Triton (1996, originally published as Triton), and the four-volume Return to Nevèrÿon series. Delany's non-Wesleyan books include Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), The Mad Man (1995), They Fly at Çiron (1993), and The Motion of Light in Water (1987).
About the Author
SAMUEL R. DELANY's many prizes include the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the William Whitehead Memorial Award for a lifetime's contribution to gay and lesbian literature. Wesleyan has published both his fiction and nonfiction, including Atlantis: three tales (1995), Silent Interviews: On Language, Race, Sex, Science Fiction, and Some Comics (1994) and Longer Views: Extended Essays (1996). The press has also reissued his classic science fiction and fantasy novels Dhalgren (1996), Trouble on Triton (1996, originally published as Triton), and the four-volume Return to Nevèrÿon series. Delany's non-Wesleyan books include Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), The Mad Man (1995), They Fly at Çiron (1993), and The Motion of Light in Water (1987).
