I grieved when the hero of Paul Auster's novel died on page 180—but
especially so because this novel is almost 900 pages long. How would I
manage without a protagonist through all those remaining chapters?
But wily Mr. Auster’s had a backup plan. In fact he had three backup plans. In the
course of his wide-ranging historical novel 4-3-2-1, he deploys four different versions
of his main character Archie Ferguson, each one pursuing his own distinctive
coming-of-age story. There’s a whole alternative universe surrounding each of
these Archies. Mom and Dad may be the
same, along with a host of other major and
minor personages, but they are also subtly
different, making different decisions, large
and small, that set the four stories going
off in different directions.
In this unusual way, Auster has delivered
one of the strangest semi-autobiographical
novels of recent memory. You can view
4-3-2-1 in many ways, but overriding all of
these interpretations is the author's quest to
answer that most unanswerable of all questions: how would his life have been changed
if people had made different choices?
There is very little philosophical reflection in this book. But don’t be misled by the
fastidious obsession on incident and character. There’s plenty of theory here too,
although that must be supplied by the readers. One of the first conclusions a
perspicacious observer brings to the story of Archie Ferguson is that his parents'
decisions are even more important than our own. Jean-Paul Sartre once famously
declared that we are artists who paint our own lives: "In life, a man commits himself
and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing." But if Auster is correct,
we are more like the Mona Lisa than Leonardo da Vinci, forced to smile or grimace
in a posture and setting determined by those who made us. In the case of Archie
Ferguson, so many key parameters of his life—finance, education, romance—are the
result of Mom and Dad’s decisions, that even we the readers squirm under the
constraints. And if you add in the genetic determinism that all of us embody, the
degrees of freedom in Auster's various alternative universes are depressingly
limited.
RELATED ESSAYS
Leviathan by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
Invisible by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
Yet Auster stops short of absolute fatalism, and at times seems to suggest that our
goals and drives triumph in the face of all obstacles. Our four Archies face very
different opportunities and hurdles, yet each is destined to grow up to become an
author. Their moral and political values seem almost identical, differing more in tactics
and modes of engagement, and show a convergence across the four narratives
suggesting they are outgrowths of a born character rather than reactions to life's
slings and arrows. (I note in passing that these unchanging aspects of Ferguson’s
persona and biography are typically those in which he most resembles author Paul
Auster.)
I find the notion of multiple Austers quite fitting in this context. There has always been
a tension in this writer’s work, almost as if two different authors were battling for
supremacy. On the one hand, we have Auster the experimental post-modernist, and
that’s the person who would take delight in juxtaposing conflicting and incompatible
narratives in a single book. On the other hand, readers have grown familiar with Auster
the storyteller, who needs no tricks to keep them turning the pages. Despite the
extravagant conceit underlying this book, it’s actually the storytelling Auster who is
mostly in control here. And he is operating at top form, filling up each chapter with
rich incidents, compelling conflicts, comedy and farce, the tragic and the sublime.
And of course there’s plenty of actual history here too. How can there not be, when
Archie Ferguson comes of age in the midst of the Vietnam War and student protests,
assassinations and race riots, the sexual revolution and the rise of rock ‘n’ roll?
In an interview with The Paris Review, Auster once cited an unexpected source of
inspiration. “The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling,” he told
Michael Wood. “Every word has to count.” There would seem to be almost nothing
in common between a tightly-constructed joke, and a 900-page novel; but one of the
great joys of reading 4-3-2-1 is how meticulously Auster constructs each scene in
his diverging dramas. The personal turmoils
of our hero rarely approach Dostoevskian
levels—Ferguson’s biggest infractions are
shoplifting books and getting into a barroom
brawl—but these are related with almost
cinematic vividness. But even the smaller
crises of day-to-day live take on a kind of
dramatic intensification in these pages.
The most flamboyant part of this novel, its
complex four-part structure, makes only the
smallest contribution to its success. I found
it very easy to get my various Archies mixed up. When you go back and check a
previous chapter, you need to make sure you aren’t confusing Chapter 2-1 with
Chapter 2-2 or Chapter 2-3. (Yes, each chapter comes adjacent to its 3 variants.)
This is a bit too much like keeping track of software upgrades for my taste, and if
you run into an incompatibility problem, the ramifications are far-reaching. For
example, Amy Schneiderman is our hero’s lover in one iteration of the story, and
his step-sister in another. At a certain point, I stopped worrying about the relationship
between these mutually exclusive family trees and timelines, and just decided to
enjoy each vignette on its own terms.
Archie Ferguson makes a lot of bad choices in the course of these four lifetimes.
But Paul Auster rarely falters. My biggest complaint is his reliance on implausible,
out-of-the-blue plot devices. Too many people die in strange, sudden ways during
the course of this long novel—Auster even makes use of a lightning bolt to
dispatch one of our protagonists. Violent accidents play too large a part in the
proceedings. I understand why our novelist makes these decisions—he wants to
show how chance events can shape a life. But if he needs to resort to lightning bolts
to make this point, he actually makes us doubt the very point he is trying to prove.
Even so, I am willing to suspend disbelief. In fact, a reader who tackles a novel that
presents four alternative versions of a single life is pretty much forced to do that.
And Auster rewards us with the sheer zeal and stamina of his storytelling. This is
his biggest novel, and I’m not just talking about its supersized page count or
massive accumulation of characters and incidents. Frankly, I don’t expect Auster
to surpass this rich multilayered book—well, not unless he gets three more lifetimes
to work his magic.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. He is the author of ten books. His
most recent book is How to Listen to Jazz (Basic Books).
Publication date: May 15, 2018
especially so because this novel is almost 900 pages long. How would I
manage without a protagonist through all those remaining chapters?
But wily Mr. Auster’s had a backup plan. In fact he had three backup plans. In the
course of his wide-ranging historical novel 4-3-2-1, he deploys four different versions
of his main character Archie Ferguson, each one pursuing his own distinctive
coming-of-age story. There’s a whole alternative universe surrounding each of
these Archies. Mom and Dad may be the
same, along with a host of other major and
minor personages, but they are also subtly
different, making different decisions, large
and small, that set the four stories going
off in different directions.
In this unusual way, Auster has delivered
one of the strangest semi-autobiographical
novels of recent memory. You can view
4-3-2-1 in many ways, but overriding all of
these interpretations is the author's quest to
answer that most unanswerable of all questions: how would his life have been changed
if people had made different choices?
There is very little philosophical reflection in this book. But don’t be misled by the
fastidious obsession on incident and character. There’s plenty of theory here too,
although that must be supplied by the readers. One of the first conclusions a
perspicacious observer brings to the story of Archie Ferguson is that his parents'
decisions are even more important than our own. Jean-Paul Sartre once famously
declared that we are artists who paint our own lives: "In life, a man commits himself
and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing." But if Auster is correct,
we are more like the Mona Lisa than Leonardo da Vinci, forced to smile or grimace
in a posture and setting determined by those who made us. In the case of Archie
Ferguson, so many key parameters of his life—finance, education, romance—are the
result of Mom and Dad’s decisions, that even we the readers squirm under the
constraints. And if you add in the genetic determinism that all of us embody, the
degrees of freedom in Auster's various alternative universes are depressingly
limited.
RELATED ESSAYS
Leviathan by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
Invisible by Paul Auster (reviewed by Ted Gioia)
Yet Auster stops short of absolute fatalism, and at times seems to suggest that our
goals and drives triumph in the face of all obstacles. Our four Archies face very
different opportunities and hurdles, yet each is destined to grow up to become an
author. Their moral and political values seem almost identical, differing more in tactics
and modes of engagement, and show a convergence across the four narratives
suggesting they are outgrowths of a born character rather than reactions to life's
slings and arrows. (I note in passing that these unchanging aspects of Ferguson’s
persona and biography are typically those in which he most resembles author Paul
Auster.)
I find the notion of multiple Austers quite fitting in this context. There has always been
a tension in this writer’s work, almost as if two different authors were battling for
supremacy. On the one hand, we have Auster the experimental post-modernist, and
that’s the person who would take delight in juxtaposing conflicting and incompatible
narratives in a single book. On the other hand, readers have grown familiar with Auster
the storyteller, who needs no tricks to keep them turning the pages. Despite the
extravagant conceit underlying this book, it’s actually the storytelling Auster who is
mostly in control here. And he is operating at top form, filling up each chapter with
rich incidents, compelling conflicts, comedy and farce, the tragic and the sublime.
And of course there’s plenty of actual history here too. How can there not be, when
Archie Ferguson comes of age in the midst of the Vietnam War and student protests,
assassinations and race riots, the sexual revolution and the rise of rock ‘n’ roll?
In an interview with The Paris Review, Auster once cited an unexpected source of
inspiration. “The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling,” he told
Michael Wood. “Every word has to count.” There would seem to be almost nothing
in common between a tightly-constructed joke, and a 900-page novel; but one of the
great joys of reading 4-3-2-1 is how meticulously Auster constructs each scene in
his diverging dramas. The personal turmoils
of our hero rarely approach Dostoevskian
levels—Ferguson’s biggest infractions are
shoplifting books and getting into a barroom
brawl—but these are related with almost
cinematic vividness. But even the smaller
crises of day-to-day live take on a kind of
dramatic intensification in these pages.
The most flamboyant part of this novel, its
complex four-part structure, makes only the
smallest contribution to its success. I found
it very easy to get my various Archies mixed up. When you go back and check a
previous chapter, you need to make sure you aren’t confusing Chapter 2-1 with
Chapter 2-2 or Chapter 2-3. (Yes, each chapter comes adjacent to its 3 variants.)
This is a bit too much like keeping track of software upgrades for my taste, and if
you run into an incompatibility problem, the ramifications are far-reaching. For
example, Amy Schneiderman is our hero’s lover in one iteration of the story, and
his step-sister in another. At a certain point, I stopped worrying about the relationship
between these mutually exclusive family trees and timelines, and just decided to
enjoy each vignette on its own terms.
Archie Ferguson makes a lot of bad choices in the course of these four lifetimes.
But Paul Auster rarely falters. My biggest complaint is his reliance on implausible,
out-of-the-blue plot devices. Too many people die in strange, sudden ways during
the course of this long novel—Auster even makes use of a lightning bolt to
dispatch one of our protagonists. Violent accidents play too large a part in the
proceedings. I understand why our novelist makes these decisions—he wants to
show how chance events can shape a life. But if he needs to resort to lightning bolts
to make this point, he actually makes us doubt the very point he is trying to prove.
Even so, I am willing to suspend disbelief. In fact, a reader who tackles a novel that
presents four alternative versions of a single life is pretty much forced to do that.
And Auster rewards us with the sheer zeal and stamina of his storytelling. This is
his biggest novel, and I’m not just talking about its supersized page count or
massive accumulation of characters and incidents. Frankly, I don’t expect Auster
to surpass this rich multilayered book—well, not unless he gets three more lifetimes
to work his magic.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. He is the author of ten books. His
most recent book is How to Listen to Jazz (Basic Books).
Publication date: May 15, 2018
Check out our sister sites:
The New Canon
Great literary works
published since 1985
Great Books Guide
Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of mystery &
suspense
Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
The New Canon
Great literary works
published since 1985
Great Books Guide
Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of mystery &
suspense
Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
| 4-3-2-1 by Paul Auster |
Essay by Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia is publishing essays on his
50 favorite works of non-realist fiction
released since 2000. Featured books
will include works of magical realism,
alternative history, sci-fi, horror, and
fantasy, as well as mainstream literary
fiction that pushes boundaries and
challenges conventional notions of
verisimilitude.
50 favorite works of non-realist fiction
released since 2000. Featured books
will include works of magical realism,
alternative history, sci-fi, horror, and
fantasy, as well as mainstream literary
fiction that pushes boundaries and
challenges conventional notions of
verisimilitude.
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
To purchase, click on image
Auster once cited an
unexpected source of
inspiration. “The joke is
the purest, most essential
form of storytelling."
unexpected source of
inspiration. “The joke is
the purest, most essential
form of storytelling."
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 Blind Assassin
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Bacigalupi, Paolo
The Windup Girl
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
Barker, Clive
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bierce, Ambrose
The Complete Short Stories
Blackwood, Algernon
The Complete John Silence Stories
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
Brooks, Max
World War Z
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Butler, Octavia E.
Fledgling
Campbell, Ramsey
Demons by Daylight
Campbell, Ramsey
The Nameless
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
Chambers, Robert W.
The King in Yellow
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
Cline, Ernest
Ready Player One
Crichton, Michael
Jurassic Park
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
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas Carol
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
Egan, Jennifer
A Visit from the Goon Squad
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gardner, John
Grendel
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haig, Matt
The Humans
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
Hendrix, Grady
Horrorstör
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Joe Hill
Heart-Shaped Box
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Never Let Me Go
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
James, Henry
The Turn of the Screw
James, M.R.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Ketchum, Jack
Off Season
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
King, Stephen
Pet Sematary
Koja, Kathe
The Cipher
Krilanovich, Grace
The Orange Eats Creeps
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
Our Lady of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lindqvist, John Ajvide
Let the Right One In
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
Machen, Arthur
The Great God Pan
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
I Am Legend
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Embassytown
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
Morris, Jan
Hav
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
North, Claire
The First 15 Lives of Harry August
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Oyeyemi, Helen
White is for Witching
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Rice, Anne
Interview with the Vampire
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Roth, Philip
The Plot Against America
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, Clark Ashton
The Dark Eidolon
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Straub, Peter
Ghost Story
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
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
Tryon, Thomas
The Other
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
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vollmann, William T
Last Stories and Other Stories
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wallace, Edgar
King Kong
Walpole, Horace
The Castle of Otranto
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Weir, Andy
The Martian
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
Wong, David
John Dies at the End
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Yamada, Taichi
Strangers
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
My Year of Horrible Reading
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
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
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
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
_____
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
All rights reserved.
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 Blind Assassin
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Bacigalupi, Paolo
The Windup Girl
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
Barker, Clive
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bierce, Ambrose
The Complete Short Stories
Blackwood, Algernon
The Complete John Silence Stories
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
Brooks, Max
World War Z
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Butler, Octavia E.
Fledgling
Campbell, Ramsey
Demons by Daylight
Campbell, Ramsey
The Nameless
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
Chambers, Robert W.
The King in Yellow
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
Cline, Ernest
Ready Player One
Crichton, Michael
Jurassic Park
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
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas Carol
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
Egan, Jennifer
A Visit from the Goon Squad
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gardner, John
Grendel
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haig, Matt
The Humans
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
Hendrix, Grady
Horrorstör
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Joe Hill
Heart-Shaped Box
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Never Let Me Go
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
James, Henry
The Turn of the Screw
James, M.R.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Ketchum, Jack
Off Season
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
King, Stephen
Pet Sematary
Koja, Kathe
The Cipher
Krilanovich, Grace
The Orange Eats Creeps
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
Our Lady of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lindqvist, John Ajvide
Let the Right One In
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
Machen, Arthur
The Great God Pan
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
I Am Legend
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Embassytown
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
Morris, Jan
Hav
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
North, Claire
The First 15 Lives of Harry August
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Oyeyemi, Helen
White is for Witching
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Rice, Anne
Interview with the Vampire
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Roth, Philip
The Plot Against America
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, Clark Ashton
The Dark Eidolon
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Straub, Peter
Ghost Story
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
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
Tryon, Thomas
The Other
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
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vollmann, William T
Last Stories and Other Stories
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wallace, Edgar
King Kong
Walpole, Horace
The Castle of Otranto
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Weir, Andy
The Martian
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
Wong, David
John Dies at the End
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Yamada, Taichi
Strangers
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
My Year of Horrible Reading
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
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
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
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
_____
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
All rights reserved.
