Essay
Collection
Genre at the Crossroads
The Challenge of Fantasy
Edited
by George Slusser & Jean-Pierre Barricelli
ISBN 1-879378-48-5 (paper)
xiii, 238 pages, with index. $17
The genre of fantasy with its many forms dominated
twentieth-century literature and art, much as "realism" dominated
that of the preceding century. Yet, while winning a mass audience, it often
encountered the disapproval and disdain of academic critics. Now, at the beginning
of the twenty-first century, it stands at a crossroads between mass entertainment
and critical respectability, between low and high art. The twenty essays in
this volume make the case for fantasy, especially for science fiction, trace
its origins and explore its richness.
Cover art: "Genetic Susquehanna" by Harvey
Fry
Ordering Options:
SPD Books in Berkeley, CA
CONTENTS
1. George Slusser
The Ghost in the Canon: "High Culture" Repressions of Science Fiction
2. Frank McConnell
It's Only a Paper Moon: Fantasy and the Professors
3. Gregory Benford
Suffering Fools, Not Gladly
4. Brian Aldiss
Price and Prejudice
5. Gerald Gillespie
From the Galaxy Nostalgia
6. A. Owen Aldridge
Fantasy and Comparative Literature
7. Mark Rose
Fantasy and History
8. Bradford Lyau
A Definition of Science Fiction
9. G.S. Rousseau
The Hunting of the Leviathan and Awakening of Proteus
10. George Slusser
Now We Know Why They're Afraid
11. Eric S. Rabkin
The Fantastic and the Pretty
12. Dave Clayton
Is Fantastic Literature Subversive?
13. Jean-Pierre Barricelli
Music As Fantasy
14. George Slusser
Music, Irony, Aggression: Hoffmann's Johannes Kreisler and the Creation of Horror
15. George Guffey
The Death and Rebirth of Astounding Stories: A Systems Analysis
16. Michael Clifton
Cinematic Aliens: Moving Toward the Child
17. Bud Foote
Escape into Paratime: H. Beam Piper's Alternated Pennsylvanias
18. Gary Westfahl
The Light Fantastic: The Systematic Obfuscation of Fantasy
19. John Grant
From The World to Cool World
20. Gary Kern
Bjørneboe's Great Failure: The History of Bestiality
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