Clive Barker reminds me of those battlefield generals determined to win at all costs.
Maybe a General Patton, who earned the infamous nickname Old Blood and Guts
(doesn’t that sound like it could be the title to a Clive Barker book?). Even as their
soldiers fall dead or wounded, these intrepid commanders push onward, heedless of the
consequences. Prospects might be as hopeless as the Battle of the Somme or Stalingrad
during the winter of 1943, but truce is unacceptable, peace a fool’s dream. I am
reminded of General Walter Heitz's order to his troops in their last encounter: "We fight
to the last bullet but one." Take a guess what you do with that last bullet.
That’s exactly how Clive Barker treats his characters.
You wouldn't want to find yourself in one of his tales.
Those poor devils pay the ultimate price, as the phrase
goes, for the honor of participating in a Clive Barker
short story. Almost everybody you meet in Books of
Blood bites the dust before the final page—heroes,
villains, major characters, minor characters, innocent
bystanders. In some instances all of the characters are
dead, or on the brink of death, at the end of the tale.
No, Mr. Barker isn't one to leave room for sequels.
But like our General Patton, Barker may leave the
field strewn with corpses, but he does produce results.
There's more to his stories than just blood and guts.
He understands that the rules for horror writing are
not much different from those governing other types
of narrative fiction. Barker doesn't just rush into the
battlefield, but prepares methodically for the conflicts
ahead. Those who have heard about this author's taste for carnage may be surprised at
how much attention he devotes to character development, backstory, setting, mood and
motivation. You might even say he deeply cares for his characters…well, at least until
that moment when he ruthlessly disposes of them.
Barker first made his name with these Books of Blood. He parlayed these sinister tales
into a wide-ranging career that has brought him everything from an Oscar (for best
screenwriter) to acclaim as a painter and illustrator. He eventually turned his hand to
comic books, children’s stories, photography, almost as if he were one of the characters
in his tales attempting to escape the gruesome circumstances behind his past. In the
introduction to the 1998 edition of Books of Blood, 1-3, he even expressed something
akin to embarrassment over his path to success. "I'm uncomfortable being viewed as the
‘Horror Guy’,” he explains, and adds that his distaste is so great that he practically dreads
Halloween, avoiding the parties and processions that allow others to indulge their taste
for frightening fare. Yet even today, the first phrase that comes to mind when people
describe Barker is the simple epithet "horror writer." And he has garnered the highest of
praise from the most celebrate of scaremongers: "I have seen the future of horror,"
Stephen King proclaimed back at the outset of this author’s ascendancy, "his name is
Clive Barker."
Barker's protagonists are rarely adventurers
or seekers after the occult. Much of the appeal
of these stories comes from our author’s ability
to combine the gruesome and mundane in ways
that are almost plausible. The typical Books of
Blood story starts by downplaying the reader's
expectations, by mimicking the trappings of
everyday life. In "The Midnight Meat Train,"
our protagonist is a middle-aged man who
recently relocated from Atlanta to New York,
only to find the city dreary, dirty and unexciting
….until he happens to fall asleep and miss his
subway stop at the worst possible time. I will spare you the details, but next day the
headlines read “Subway Slaughter.” Thomas Garrow, the hero of “Rawhead Rex” is a
struggling country farmer who needs to clear out a rocky area where he hopes to plant
next season. Few things could be more banal. But in his case, Garrow couldn’t have
chosen a worse spot to dig into the ground. In "Dread," perhaps the creepiest story in the
book, Stephen Grace makes the mistake of taking a philosophy course at college, and
meets a peculiar fellow student who wants to study the existential concept of dread. Our
hero soon learns, however, that his new friend has developed a methodology for
isolating this phenomenon more suited for Sade than Sartre. Mick and Judd,
protagonists of "In the Hills, the Cities" think that their biggest problem is a
disagreement over the itinerary of their Eastern European vacation, but their
compromise solution instead gives them a sight that most tourists would die to see—
literally, in this case.
In the concluding story of the book, the novella "Human Remains," Barker builds his
narrative around one of his typical protagonists, the pretty-boy slacker Gavin who finds
that he can earn a reasonable living selling his good looks to a well-heeled clientele. He
cherishes dreams of pursuing a more stable life, settling down to something better than
a series of pick-ups and by-the-hour assignations. Maybe he can move up the ladder to
the profession of gigolo, or even find a rich spouse who will pamper and bankroll him in
a less tawdry profession. But he always decides to put off any decision for another day,
and first make one more quick score. A chance encounter with a collector of illegal
antiquities puts Gavin in contact with a mysterious nemesis—a strange half-dead entity
that wants to emulate the young hustler, and somehow is able to take on his looks and
gestures.
Here Barker evokes not only the classic horror
stories about ‘doubles’—such as Edgar Allan Poe’s
"William Wilson" and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The
Devil's Elixirs—but also the myths of Narcissus
and Pygmalion. The end result is an appealing
narrative that works on two levels, both as escapist
story with all the familiar ingredients of the slasher
story, but also as a deeper commentary on the
displaced nature of the self in our intensely image-
and youth-oriented society. This is Barker at his
best, never neglecting the gruesome details that
brought him a huge audience, but still pushing for
something smarter and more open-ended.
By the way, it’s hard to believe that Clive Barker is
only five years younger than Stephen King. King
feels like old time rock 'n' roll, while Barker comes
across as more New Wave and punk. At the dawn
of his career, the latter smartly ditched the gothic
overtones that have so long permeated the genre, and went stale at least a half-century
ago. In their place, he crafted new kinds of nihilist scary stories, very up-to-date and
often set in nightmarish urban landscapes. Few things are harder than modernizing the
horror formulas that have been around for centuries—they were telling ghost stories in
ancient Rome, and myths about evil spirits no doubt circulated in prehistoric times. But
Barker has thrived by doing just that.
So don’t be deterred by the name. I was initially wary myself of Books of Blood, if only
because the title seemed to promise little beyond an overabundance of the crimson tide.
But I was more sanguine after reading Barker’s offering, and suspect you will be too.
There’s more than gore here—that said, these stories are not for the squeamish. But
there’s also wry humor, social commentary and well-crafted storytelling. No, don’t
expect good to triumph, or even the main characters to survive to the last paragraph, but
you will be properly entertained and agitated by the proceedings. And, above all, relieved
that you merely read these stories, not inhabit them.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His latest book is How to Listen to Jazz
from Basic Books.
Publication Date: May 30, 2016
Maybe a General Patton, who earned the infamous nickname Old Blood and Guts
(doesn’t that sound like it could be the title to a Clive Barker book?). Even as their
soldiers fall dead or wounded, these intrepid commanders push onward, heedless of the
consequences. Prospects might be as hopeless as the Battle of the Somme or Stalingrad
during the winter of 1943, but truce is unacceptable, peace a fool’s dream. I am
reminded of General Walter Heitz's order to his troops in their last encounter: "We fight
to the last bullet but one." Take a guess what you do with that last bullet.
That’s exactly how Clive Barker treats his characters.
You wouldn't want to find yourself in one of his tales.
Those poor devils pay the ultimate price, as the phrase
goes, for the honor of participating in a Clive Barker
short story. Almost everybody you meet in Books of
Blood bites the dust before the final page—heroes,
villains, major characters, minor characters, innocent
bystanders. In some instances all of the characters are
dead, or on the brink of death, at the end of the tale.
No, Mr. Barker isn't one to leave room for sequels.
But like our General Patton, Barker may leave the
field strewn with corpses, but he does produce results.
There's more to his stories than just blood and guts.
He understands that the rules for horror writing are
not much different from those governing other types
of narrative fiction. Barker doesn't just rush into the
battlefield, but prepares methodically for the conflicts
ahead. Those who have heard about this author's taste for carnage may be surprised at
how much attention he devotes to character development, backstory, setting, mood and
motivation. You might even say he deeply cares for his characters…well, at least until
that moment when he ruthlessly disposes of them.
Barker first made his name with these Books of Blood. He parlayed these sinister tales
into a wide-ranging career that has brought him everything from an Oscar (for best
screenwriter) to acclaim as a painter and illustrator. He eventually turned his hand to
comic books, children’s stories, photography, almost as if he were one of the characters
in his tales attempting to escape the gruesome circumstances behind his past. In the
introduction to the 1998 edition of Books of Blood, 1-3, he even expressed something
akin to embarrassment over his path to success. "I'm uncomfortable being viewed as the
‘Horror Guy’,” he explains, and adds that his distaste is so great that he practically dreads
Halloween, avoiding the parties and processions that allow others to indulge their taste
for frightening fare. Yet even today, the first phrase that comes to mind when people
describe Barker is the simple epithet "horror writer." And he has garnered the highest of
praise from the most celebrate of scaremongers: "I have seen the future of horror,"
Stephen King proclaimed back at the outset of this author’s ascendancy, "his name is
Clive Barker."
Barker's protagonists are rarely adventurers
or seekers after the occult. Much of the appeal
of these stories comes from our author’s ability
to combine the gruesome and mundane in ways
that are almost plausible. The typical Books of
Blood story starts by downplaying the reader's
expectations, by mimicking the trappings of
everyday life. In "The Midnight Meat Train,"
our protagonist is a middle-aged man who
recently relocated from Atlanta to New York,
only to find the city dreary, dirty and unexciting
….until he happens to fall asleep and miss his
subway stop at the worst possible time. I will spare you the details, but next day the
headlines read “Subway Slaughter.” Thomas Garrow, the hero of “Rawhead Rex” is a
struggling country farmer who needs to clear out a rocky area where he hopes to plant
next season. Few things could be more banal. But in his case, Garrow couldn’t have
chosen a worse spot to dig into the ground. In "Dread," perhaps the creepiest story in the
book, Stephen Grace makes the mistake of taking a philosophy course at college, and
meets a peculiar fellow student who wants to study the existential concept of dread. Our
hero soon learns, however, that his new friend has developed a methodology for
isolating this phenomenon more suited for Sade than Sartre. Mick and Judd,
protagonists of "In the Hills, the Cities" think that their biggest problem is a
disagreement over the itinerary of their Eastern European vacation, but their
compromise solution instead gives them a sight that most tourists would die to see—
literally, in this case.
In the concluding story of the book, the novella "Human Remains," Barker builds his
narrative around one of his typical protagonists, the pretty-boy slacker Gavin who finds
that he can earn a reasonable living selling his good looks to a well-heeled clientele. He
cherishes dreams of pursuing a more stable life, settling down to something better than
a series of pick-ups and by-the-hour assignations. Maybe he can move up the ladder to
the profession of gigolo, or even find a rich spouse who will pamper and bankroll him in
a less tawdry profession. But he always decides to put off any decision for another day,
and first make one more quick score. A chance encounter with a collector of illegal
antiquities puts Gavin in contact with a mysterious nemesis—a strange half-dead entity
that wants to emulate the young hustler, and somehow is able to take on his looks and
gestures.
Here Barker evokes not only the classic horror
stories about ‘doubles’—such as Edgar Allan Poe’s
"William Wilson" and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The
Devil's Elixirs—but also the myths of Narcissus
and Pygmalion. The end result is an appealing
narrative that works on two levels, both as escapist
story with all the familiar ingredients of the slasher
story, but also as a deeper commentary on the
displaced nature of the self in our intensely image-
and youth-oriented society. This is Barker at his
best, never neglecting the gruesome details that
brought him a huge audience, but still pushing for
something smarter and more open-ended.
By the way, it’s hard to believe that Clive Barker is
only five years younger than Stephen King. King
feels like old time rock 'n' roll, while Barker comes
across as more New Wave and punk. At the dawn
of his career, the latter smartly ditched the gothic
overtones that have so long permeated the genre, and went stale at least a half-century
ago. In their place, he crafted new kinds of nihilist scary stories, very up-to-date and
often set in nightmarish urban landscapes. Few things are harder than modernizing the
horror formulas that have been around for centuries—they were telling ghost stories in
ancient Rome, and myths about evil spirits no doubt circulated in prehistoric times. But
Barker has thrived by doing just that.
So don’t be deterred by the name. I was initially wary myself of Books of Blood, if only
because the title seemed to promise little beyond an overabundance of the crimson tide.
But I was more sanguine after reading Barker’s offering, and suspect you will be too.
There’s more than gore here—that said, these stories are not for the squeamish. But
there’s also wry humor, social commentary and well-crafted storytelling. No, don’t
expect good to triumph, or even the main characters to survive to the last paragraph, but
you will be properly entertained and agitated by the proceedings. And, above all, relieved
that you merely read these stories, not inhabit them.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His latest book is How to Listen to Jazz
from Basic Books.
Publication Date: May 30, 2016
This is my year of horrible reading.
I am reading the classics of horror fiction
during the course of 2016, and each week will
write about a significant work in the genre.
You are invited to join me in my annus
horribilis. During the course of the year—if
we survive—we will have tackled zombies,
serial killers, ghosts, demons, vampires, and
monsters of all denominations. Check back
each week for a new title...but remember to
bring along garlic, silver bullets and a
protective amulet. Ted Gioia
I am reading the classics of horror fiction
during the course of 2016, and each week will
write about a significant work in the genre.
You are invited to join me in my annus
horribilis. During the course of the year—if
we survive—we will have tackled zombies,
serial killers, ghosts, demons, vampires, and
monsters of all denominations. Check back
each week for a new title...but remember to
bring along garlic, silver bullets and a
protective amulet. Ted Gioia
My Year of Horrible Reading
Week 1:
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
Week 2:
The Haunting of Hill House
By Shirley Jackson
Week 3:
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
By Edgar Allan Poe
Week 4:
Carrie
By Stephen King
Week 5:
The Passion According to G.H.
By Clarice Lispector
Week 6:
Tales
By H.P. Lovecraft
Week 7:
The Exorcist
By William Peter Blatty
Week 8:
The Woman in Black
By Susan Hill
Week 9:
Nausea
By Jean-Paul Sartre
Week 10:
I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson
Week 11:
Ghost Stories of Henry James
By Henry James
Week 12:
Interview with the Vampire
By Anne Rice
Week 13:
American Psycho
By Bret Easton Ellis
Week 14:
Last Stories and Other Stories
By William T. Vollmann
Week 15:
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
By M.R. James
Week 16:
Rosemary's Baby
By Ira Levin
Week 17:
The King in Yellow
By Robert W. Chambers
Week 18:
Rebecca
By Daphne Du Maurier
Week 19
The Woman in the Dunes
by Kōbō Abe
Week 20
The Dark Eidolon
by Clark Ashton Smith
Week 21
Off Season
by Jack Ketchum
Week 22
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
by Clive Barker
Week 1:
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
Week 2:
The Haunting of Hill House
By Shirley Jackson
Week 3:
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
By Edgar Allan Poe
Week 4:
Carrie
By Stephen King
Week 5:
The Passion According to G.H.
By Clarice Lispector
Week 6:
Tales
By H.P. Lovecraft
Week 7:
The Exorcist
By William Peter Blatty
Week 8:
The Woman in Black
By Susan Hill
Week 9:
Nausea
By Jean-Paul Sartre
Week 10:
I Am Legend
By Richard Matheson
Week 11:
Ghost Stories of Henry James
By Henry James
Week 12:
Interview with the Vampire
By Anne Rice
Week 13:
American Psycho
By Bret Easton Ellis
Week 14:
Last Stories and Other Stories
By William T. Vollmann
Week 15:
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
By M.R. James
Week 16:
Rosemary's Baby
By Ira Levin
Week 17:
The King in Yellow
By Robert W. Chambers
Week 18:
Rebecca
By Daphne Du Maurier
Week 19
The Woman in the Dunes
by Kōbō Abe
Week 20
The Dark Eidolon
by Clark Ashton Smith
Week 21
Off Season
by Jack Ketchum
Week 22
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
by Clive Barker
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
Clive Barker's Books of Blood
In some instances all of
the characters are dead,
or on the brink of death,
at the end of the tale. No,
Mr. Barker isn’t one to
leave room for sequels..
the characters are dead,
or on the brink of death,
at the end of the tale. No,
Mr. Barker isn’t one to
leave room for sequels..
To purchase, click on image
Essay by Ted Gioia
| Clive Barker |
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
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
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
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
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
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
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
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
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
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
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
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
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
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
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
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
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
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
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
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
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
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
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
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
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
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
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
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
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
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
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
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
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