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| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock Essay by Ted Gioia |
I should probably start out with a spoiler alert. Something along the
lines of…STOP RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL TELL YOU HOW THIS
STORY ENDS!
On the other hand, is it really a spoiler if the author telegraphs
the surprise ending within the first few pages of the book? You
can’t really call me a spoiler if the merchandise is already spoiled.
That’s the awkward situation Michael Moorcock
creates with Behold the Man, one of his best
known works and a defining text in the New
Wave sci-fi movement of the 1960s. But is
anyone really surprised by the surprise ending
here? I don’t think so. Not since Samuel Morse
invented Morse Code has anyone done a better
job of telegraphing a message.
Here it is: a man travels back in time to meet
Jesus Christ. He joins up with John the Baptist
who celebrates his arrival. ("I had heard of you.
Are you outlawed by Herod?") Members of a
gentle religious community flock around our
visitor from the future, excited by this mysterious
man who has appeared in their midst. Let's
even call them apostles…..
Okay you see what’s coming don’t you? Well,
if you haven’t figured this plot out by page ten,
you need a new pair of reading glasses. And a
remedial class on holy scripture.
But give Moorcock credit for chutzpah. Not only does he turn
his protagonist Karl Glogauer into Jesus Christ, but he draws on his
own personal history in crafting Glogauer. If I apply the transitive
property of equality, which I still vaguely recall from ninth grade,
to these elements, I end up with Moorcock = Messiah.
Behold the Man is hardly the only Moorcock book to set up
this comparison. Our author has shown a devotion to characters
with the initials JC, from Jehamia Cohnahlias to Jeremiah Cornell
—most notably his most famous hero Jerry Cornelius, sort of
Nietzschean James Bond-type, apparently licensed both to kill
and to embody nihilism in all its manifestations. All these Christ-
like characters in Moorcock's oeuvre seem variations on a theme:
on a personal level, they represent an alter ego for the author;
on a philosophical level they set up an alternative messiah for the
Beyond and Good and Evil cohort. Honestly, I think the name
Moorcock on its own would embody this worldview to perfection,
but if it floats our author’s boat to add a few pages from the J.C.
narrative to his fantasies, that’s certainly his prerogative.
Moorcock enlivens his story by telling it in a discursive,
fragmented manner. He mixes in choice quotes from secular
gurus—Jung, Wordsworth, Blake—alongside extracts from the
New Testament. Moorcock knows most of the tricks of the New
Wave sci-fi trade, indeed to some extent he presided over the
creation of the playbook, and applies almost all of them during
the course of this short novel.
But this tale is also more plot-driven than many of the New Wave
classics. This ain't just theology, but a time travel story. Few sci-fi
concepts have been so frequently used (and abused). And
Moorcock latches on to one of the most problematic elements
of the meme, namely the possibility that traveling back in time
changes the course of time. Or as the screenwriters of Back
to the Future so aptly put it:
Doc: "The encounter could create a time paradox. The results
of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the
very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire
universe!...Granted, that's the worst-case scenario. The
destruction however might be limited merely to our own galaxy."
Marty: "Well that's a relief!"
Yes, the historical Jesus does make a cameo appearance when
Glogauer travels to Nazareth and tracks down the carpenter
Joseph.
"I wish to meet one of your sons. Have you one called Jesus? Can
you tell me where he is?"
"That good-for-nothing. What has he done now?"
He meets the young man. "The figure was misshapen. It had a
pronounced hunched back and a cast in its left eye. The face
was vacant and foolish. There was a little spittle on it lips." What
an ingenious idea, that the ethos of Jesus is embodied in the lowly
and outcast! Well, not really. Dostoevsky anticipated this concept
exactly a century before Moorcock, in his book The Idiot. But you
can't really give Dostoevsky credit, because this whole them has
been embedded in Christian thinking for two thousand years.
The difference in Behold the Man is that Moorcock feels that he
has delivered something transgressive and 'out there'—when actually,
to a degree that he himself seems to miss, he is aligning himself
with traditional Christology.
But this ‘historical Jesus’ is quickly shuffled off-stage. Glogauer is
the lucky man who gets to travel to Jerusalem on a donkey, as his
followers throw down palm branches in his path. If I had been in
this situation, I would have steered clear of that fellow named
Judas Iscariot. But if hindsight were foresight, we’d be better
off by a damned sight.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and pop culture. His next book,
a history of love songs, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Publication Date: September 19, 2014
lines of…STOP RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL TELL YOU HOW THIS
STORY ENDS!
On the other hand, is it really a spoiler if the author telegraphs
the surprise ending within the first few pages of the book? You
can’t really call me a spoiler if the merchandise is already spoiled.
That’s the awkward situation Michael Moorcock
creates with Behold the Man, one of his best
known works and a defining text in the New
Wave sci-fi movement of the 1960s. But is
anyone really surprised by the surprise ending
here? I don’t think so. Not since Samuel Morse
invented Morse Code has anyone done a better
job of telegraphing a message.
Here it is: a man travels back in time to meet
Jesus Christ. He joins up with John the Baptist
who celebrates his arrival. ("I had heard of you.
Are you outlawed by Herod?") Members of a
gentle religious community flock around our
visitor from the future, excited by this mysterious
man who has appeared in their midst. Let's
even call them apostles…..
Okay you see what’s coming don’t you? Well,
if you haven’t figured this plot out by page ten,
you need a new pair of reading glasses. And a
remedial class on holy scripture.
But give Moorcock credit for chutzpah. Not only does he turn
his protagonist Karl Glogauer into Jesus Christ, but he draws on his
own personal history in crafting Glogauer. If I apply the transitive
property of equality, which I still vaguely recall from ninth grade,
to these elements, I end up with Moorcock = Messiah.
Behold the Man is hardly the only Moorcock book to set up
this comparison. Our author has shown a devotion to characters
with the initials JC, from Jehamia Cohnahlias to Jeremiah Cornell
—most notably his most famous hero Jerry Cornelius, sort of
Nietzschean James Bond-type, apparently licensed both to kill
and to embody nihilism in all its manifestations. All these Christ-
like characters in Moorcock's oeuvre seem variations on a theme:
on a personal level, they represent an alter ego for the author;
on a philosophical level they set up an alternative messiah for the
Beyond and Good and Evil cohort. Honestly, I think the name
Moorcock on its own would embody this worldview to perfection,
but if it floats our author’s boat to add a few pages from the J.C.
narrative to his fantasies, that’s certainly his prerogative.
Moorcock enlivens his story by telling it in a discursive,
fragmented manner. He mixes in choice quotes from secular
gurus—Jung, Wordsworth, Blake—alongside extracts from the
New Testament. Moorcock knows most of the tricks of the New
Wave sci-fi trade, indeed to some extent he presided over the
creation of the playbook, and applies almost all of them during
the course of this short novel.
But this tale is also more plot-driven than many of the New Wave
classics. This ain't just theology, but a time travel story. Few sci-fi
concepts have been so frequently used (and abused). And
Moorcock latches on to one of the most problematic elements
of the meme, namely the possibility that traveling back in time
changes the course of time. Or as the screenwriters of Back
to the Future so aptly put it:
Doc: "The encounter could create a time paradox. The results
of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the
very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire
universe!...Granted, that's the worst-case scenario. The
destruction however might be limited merely to our own galaxy."
Marty: "Well that's a relief!"
Yes, the historical Jesus does make a cameo appearance when
Glogauer travels to Nazareth and tracks down the carpenter
Joseph.
"I wish to meet one of your sons. Have you one called Jesus? Can
you tell me where he is?"
"That good-for-nothing. What has he done now?"
He meets the young man. "The figure was misshapen. It had a
pronounced hunched back and a cast in its left eye. The face
was vacant and foolish. There was a little spittle on it lips." What
an ingenious idea, that the ethos of Jesus is embodied in the lowly
and outcast! Well, not really. Dostoevsky anticipated this concept
exactly a century before Moorcock, in his book The Idiot. But you
can't really give Dostoevsky credit, because this whole them has
been embedded in Christian thinking for two thousand years.
The difference in Behold the Man is that Moorcock feels that he
has delivered something transgressive and 'out there'—when actually,
to a degree that he himself seems to miss, he is aligning himself
with traditional Christology.
But this ‘historical Jesus’ is quickly shuffled off-stage. Glogauer is
the lucky man who gets to travel to Jerusalem on a donkey, as his
followers throw down palm branches in his path. If I had been in
this situation, I would have steered clear of that fellow named
Judas Iscariot. But if hindsight were foresight, we’d be better
off by a damned sight.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and pop culture. His next book,
a history of love songs, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Publication Date: September 19, 2014
| To purchase, click on image |
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
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io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
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Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
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