Tag Archives: samuel r. delany

The SF That Was: Isaac Asimov Introduces Anne McCaffrey

One of the things I’ve been trying to do in recent years is look more at the history of the field. In the thrift store, I love finding F&SF anthologies from the 60s and 70s, in part because it’s interesting to see which names kept on going, which faded away. Often the most riveting story in a collection is from a writer whose name I’ll only see that once. In reading anthologies, I find that often one of the most revelatory parts is the introduction, less for anything said about the stories than for clues to the publishing climate at the time.

Recently in the thrift shop, I picked up a couple of paperbacks: two volumes worth of early Hugo winners, edited by Isaac Asimov. Of course I bought them. How could I not, in light of recent controversies? They’ve been an interesting read – particularly when I’m reading the first Nebula volume at the same time — and sometimes illuminating.
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You Should Read This: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon was originally a short story by Daniel Keyes that appeared in 1959 in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and won the Hugo Award the following year. Seven years after the story’s publication, it appeared in novel form under the same name, and shared that year’s Nebula Award with Samuel R. Delany’s Babel-17.
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You Should Read This: About Writing by Samuel R. Delany

I can’t think of a better book to begin with than a writing book I go back to over and over again, both for teaching and to apply to my own writing. Be aware that many of these essays are also contained in The Jewel-Hinged Jaw.
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Items I Covet

This is a Wonder Woman comic written by Samuel R. Delany. Samuel fricking Delany. In issues 202-203 she abandons her super powers and becomes a super agent. Note the label “The Women’s Lib Issue”. So full of AWESOME I’m surprised it could be scanned without shattering the lenses of every piece of A/V equipment in a five block radius. Continue reading

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