Stephen King launched his literary career on April 5, 1974 with little
fanfare. Doubleday had printed 30,000 copies of Carrie, but the novel
only generated sales of 13,000 hardbacks. The author received an
advance of $2,500 for his efforts—a reasonable amount for an
untested author, but hardly enough for King to quit his day job as
a high school teacher.
If you want to buy one of those hardback first
editions nowadays, be prepared to pay a
thousand dollars or more. If Stephen King’s
signature is attached, the cost will be closer to
five grand. For the unproven author of Carrie
would turn into the leading horror writer of the
late 20th century. Stephen King would go on to
sell more than 350 million copies, and accumulate
a net worth of $400 million. When he wrote Carrie,
he was living in a trailer and writing on a borrowed
typewriter. He now owns three homes, including his
famous Victorian mansion in Bangor, Maine that
looks like a haunted house from one of his novels.
King had actually thrown away his first attempt at telling the story of horror at
a high school prom. But his wife retrieved the discarded pages from the trash
bin, insisting that the tale had potential. King persevered, and nine months
later completed the manuscript.
Upon the book’s release, Library Journal told its reader that the novel was
"overdone" and "cannot be honestly recommended." But the New York Times,
which carries a bit more clout, proclaimed Carrie "amazing" and declared that
this impressive debut "was guaranteed to give you a chill." Signet Books, a
seller of mass-market paperbacks, clearly agreed with that assessment, and
offered a stunning $400,000 for softcover rights. Their bet paid off when
Carrie went on to sell more than a million copies in paperback. An even bigger
boost came when director Brian De Palma read Carrie and decided to turn it
into a film. "Carrie the movie put King on the map," notes George Beahm,
author of The Stephen King Companion. "It got people who don’t normally go
into bookstores through the doors." Judging by King’s subsequent rack
record, they made many repeat visits.
Why was Carrie so successful? You probably expect me to focus on the plot—
after all, isn't that the main driver of all genre fiction? But King is not your
typical genre writer. In his works, the structural issues—often handled so
deftly that the casual reader hardly notices them—are as important as the
storyline.
In the case of Carrie, King could hardly have adopted a more challenging
blueprint for his narrative. Following in the steps of John Dos Passos—who
pioneered this pointillistic technique in Manhattan Transfer and his USA
Trilogy—King decides to tell his story in fragments. These include everything
from newspaper articles and graffiti to transcripts of testimony at government
hearings and passages from imaginary books. King intersperses traditional
third-person storytelling from an omniscient narrator who can read the
various characters’ minds, but only one at a time. So the reader's perspective
on the plot constantly shifts from character to character. At some junctures we
are viewing the action as Carrie’s perceives it, but then we might take on the
outlook of her mother, or a teacher at her school, or a classmate, or some
other member of the community.
As if this weren't hard enough to pull off, King jumbles up the chronology of
the narrative. Most of the novel is devoted to explaining the events that led up
to the macabre prom night that serves as the centerpiece to Carrie. But
throughout the novel, King inserts passages that describe key incidents from
the perspective of those analyzing the horror after the fact. The reader is
repeatedly tantalized with these macabre foreshadowings of the gruesome
conclusion of the story of Carrie White, but enough is withheld to keep us
guessing—and cringing—in anticipation. The virtuosity with which King
handles these structural complexities would earn our praise even if he had
been an experienced writer at the time; but in a newcomer to genre fiction who
was publishing his first book, this confident control of materials is all the more
impressive.
Oh, did I mention the stream-of-consciousness passages that show up
periodically in Carrie? Throughout the book these appear as tiny interruptions
in the narrative, psychological haikus juxtaposed against the storytelling. In a
few instances, the Joycean inspiration rises to the forefront, and King pushes
at the limits of genre fiction. Yet, he never loses the reader, and the radical
shifts in prose style, narrative stance and chronology work together in
elevating Carrie above the crudities that fill the 'horror' shelves at your
neighborhood bookstore. Yes, this is a genre book, but at every juncture, King
wants to show you how he can resist the stale formulas and hack writing of his
pulp-oriented peers.
But I have delayed long enough…I now must tell you about the plot. It’s a
good yarn, as they said in old days. Thinks of it as a kind of Revenge of the
Nerds, but with lots of blood and explosions. Carrie White is the outcast at
Ewen High School in the small community of Chamberlain, Maine. She is
ridiculed and bullied, and often serves as the target of cruel pranks. Her life at
home is no better: her mother is a deranged fundamentalist who has
renounced organized religion in favor of a home-based faith built on hours
praying in the closet and devotion at a home altar. Carrie craves a normal
teenage life, but it is denied her at every turn. When finally pushed too far, she
opts for payback.
But here’s the catch: Carrie isn’t a normal teenager. She has latent telekinetic
powers. During her early childhood they appeared during a brief moment of
psychological crisis—Carrie was able to make furniture move around the
house and stones fall from the sky. But this was an isolated event, and even
Carrie only dimly remembers the circumstances that spurred this
manifestation of strange powers. With the onset of puberty, however, Carrie’s
psychic powers emerge in all their awesome horror.
You wouldn’t want to cross this young lady. She can propel objects, or even
break them in two, with a mere burst of energy from her mind. Readers can
see the disaster looming over the community of Chamberlain—after all,
Stephen King constantly hints at it with his dramatic shifts in chronology. We
can see Carrie looking forward to prom night. She has been invited by one of
the most popular students at the high school, who has been roped into serving
as escort more as a gesture of pity than in the spirit of romance. Meanwhile a
less sympathetic classmate plans a cruel and elaborate prank to humiliate
Carrie in front of all the prom attendees. As if this isn’t enough to precipitate a
teen meltdown, Carrie’s mother decides that only the whore of Babylon would
go to a high school dance, and hatches her own plot to set matters right.
Yes, readers know that this story will end badly.
But still they can’t anticipate the way events will
unfold…or the scope of the destruction. In a novel
that constantly anticipates future events, King still
keeps a few secrets to himself until the very end.
The pace accelerates dramatically during the final
fifty pages, and the fireworks—both the psychological
ones and the literal ones flaming in the sky—will not
disappoint. I am hardly surprised that director Brian
De Palma immediately saw the potential for translating
this book on to the silver screen.
But also give King credit for his bold approach to
character development. Carrie is scary, no doubt
about it, but she also draws on our compassion, and perhaps nags at our
conscience. If she is a monster—and who can doubt it, by the end of this
volume?—she is a monster that the rest of us created. The fact that we
understand Carrie so well both amplifies the horror of King’s story, and its
value as a novel that rises beyond the narrow confines of most escapist genre
literature.
For that very reason, I was saddened to learn that Carrie ranks among the
most frequently banned books in US schools. It has been a focal of
controversy in at least six different states. One high school in Vermont even
alleged that the novel could harm students, especially young girls.
I take the opposite view. This book might have a positive impact on
youngsters, perhaps forcing them to think twice before bullying and ridiculing
their peers. In case you haven’t noticed, the number of school outcasts
seeking revenge has increased dramatically, and lethally, since King published
his novel. There are plenty of Carries in our schools, and we are fortunate that
they don’t possess her powers. That said, you don’t need telekinetic ability to
wreak havoc in the classrooms. Many school outcasts require intervention or
just our compassion. This horror novel just might convey that lesson to those
who would ignore a more didactic or pedagogical message.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His most recent book,
Love Songs: The Hidden History, is published by Oxford University Press.
Publication date: January 25, 2016
fanfare. Doubleday had printed 30,000 copies of Carrie, but the novel
only generated sales of 13,000 hardbacks. The author received an
advance of $2,500 for his efforts—a reasonable amount for an
untested author, but hardly enough for King to quit his day job as
a high school teacher.
If you want to buy one of those hardback first
editions nowadays, be prepared to pay a
thousand dollars or more. If Stephen King’s
signature is attached, the cost will be closer to
five grand. For the unproven author of Carrie
would turn into the leading horror writer of the
late 20th century. Stephen King would go on to
sell more than 350 million copies, and accumulate
a net worth of $400 million. When he wrote Carrie,
he was living in a trailer and writing on a borrowed
typewriter. He now owns three homes, including his
famous Victorian mansion in Bangor, Maine that
looks like a haunted house from one of his novels.
King had actually thrown away his first attempt at telling the story of horror at
a high school prom. But his wife retrieved the discarded pages from the trash
bin, insisting that the tale had potential. King persevered, and nine months
later completed the manuscript.
Upon the book’s release, Library Journal told its reader that the novel was
"overdone" and "cannot be honestly recommended." But the New York Times,
which carries a bit more clout, proclaimed Carrie "amazing" and declared that
this impressive debut "was guaranteed to give you a chill." Signet Books, a
seller of mass-market paperbacks, clearly agreed with that assessment, and
offered a stunning $400,000 for softcover rights. Their bet paid off when
Carrie went on to sell more than a million copies in paperback. An even bigger
boost came when director Brian De Palma read Carrie and decided to turn it
into a film. "Carrie the movie put King on the map," notes George Beahm,
author of The Stephen King Companion. "It got people who don’t normally go
into bookstores through the doors." Judging by King’s subsequent rack
record, they made many repeat visits.
Why was Carrie so successful? You probably expect me to focus on the plot—
after all, isn't that the main driver of all genre fiction? But King is not your
typical genre writer. In his works, the structural issues—often handled so
deftly that the casual reader hardly notices them—are as important as the
storyline.
In the case of Carrie, King could hardly have adopted a more challenging
blueprint for his narrative. Following in the steps of John Dos Passos—who
pioneered this pointillistic technique in Manhattan Transfer and his USA
Trilogy—King decides to tell his story in fragments. These include everything
from newspaper articles and graffiti to transcripts of testimony at government
hearings and passages from imaginary books. King intersperses traditional
third-person storytelling from an omniscient narrator who can read the
various characters’ minds, but only one at a time. So the reader's perspective
on the plot constantly shifts from character to character. At some junctures we
are viewing the action as Carrie’s perceives it, but then we might take on the
outlook of her mother, or a teacher at her school, or a classmate, or some
other member of the community.
As if this weren't hard enough to pull off, King jumbles up the chronology of
the narrative. Most of the novel is devoted to explaining the events that led up
to the macabre prom night that serves as the centerpiece to Carrie. But
throughout the novel, King inserts passages that describe key incidents from
the perspective of those analyzing the horror after the fact. The reader is
repeatedly tantalized with these macabre foreshadowings of the gruesome
conclusion of the story of Carrie White, but enough is withheld to keep us
guessing—and cringing—in anticipation. The virtuosity with which King
handles these structural complexities would earn our praise even if he had
been an experienced writer at the time; but in a newcomer to genre fiction who
was publishing his first book, this confident control of materials is all the more
impressive.
Oh, did I mention the stream-of-consciousness passages that show up
periodically in Carrie? Throughout the book these appear as tiny interruptions
in the narrative, psychological haikus juxtaposed against the storytelling. In a
few instances, the Joycean inspiration rises to the forefront, and King pushes
at the limits of genre fiction. Yet, he never loses the reader, and the radical
shifts in prose style, narrative stance and chronology work together in
elevating Carrie above the crudities that fill the 'horror' shelves at your
neighborhood bookstore. Yes, this is a genre book, but at every juncture, King
wants to show you how he can resist the stale formulas and hack writing of his
pulp-oriented peers.
But I have delayed long enough…I now must tell you about the plot. It’s a
good yarn, as they said in old days. Thinks of it as a kind of Revenge of the
Nerds, but with lots of blood and explosions. Carrie White is the outcast at
Ewen High School in the small community of Chamberlain, Maine. She is
ridiculed and bullied, and often serves as the target of cruel pranks. Her life at
home is no better: her mother is a deranged fundamentalist who has
renounced organized religion in favor of a home-based faith built on hours
praying in the closet and devotion at a home altar. Carrie craves a normal
teenage life, but it is denied her at every turn. When finally pushed too far, she
opts for payback.
But here’s the catch: Carrie isn’t a normal teenager. She has latent telekinetic
powers. During her early childhood they appeared during a brief moment of
psychological crisis—Carrie was able to make furniture move around the
house and stones fall from the sky. But this was an isolated event, and even
Carrie only dimly remembers the circumstances that spurred this
manifestation of strange powers. With the onset of puberty, however, Carrie’s
psychic powers emerge in all their awesome horror.
You wouldn’t want to cross this young lady. She can propel objects, or even
break them in two, with a mere burst of energy from her mind. Readers can
see the disaster looming over the community of Chamberlain—after all,
Stephen King constantly hints at it with his dramatic shifts in chronology. We
can see Carrie looking forward to prom night. She has been invited by one of
the most popular students at the high school, who has been roped into serving
as escort more as a gesture of pity than in the spirit of romance. Meanwhile a
less sympathetic classmate plans a cruel and elaborate prank to humiliate
Carrie in front of all the prom attendees. As if this isn’t enough to precipitate a
teen meltdown, Carrie’s mother decides that only the whore of Babylon would
go to a high school dance, and hatches her own plot to set matters right.
Yes, readers know that this story will end badly.
But still they can’t anticipate the way events will
unfold…or the scope of the destruction. In a novel
that constantly anticipates future events, King still
keeps a few secrets to himself until the very end.
The pace accelerates dramatically during the final
fifty pages, and the fireworks—both the psychological
ones and the literal ones flaming in the sky—will not
disappoint. I am hardly surprised that director Brian
De Palma immediately saw the potential for translating
this book on to the silver screen.
But also give King credit for his bold approach to
character development. Carrie is scary, no doubt
about it, but she also draws on our compassion, and perhaps nags at our
conscience. If she is a monster—and who can doubt it, by the end of this
volume?—she is a monster that the rest of us created. The fact that we
understand Carrie so well both amplifies the horror of King’s story, and its
value as a novel that rises beyond the narrow confines of most escapist genre
literature.
For that very reason, I was saddened to learn that Carrie ranks among the
most frequently banned books in US schools. It has been a focal of
controversy in at least six different states. One high school in Vermont even
alleged that the novel could harm students, especially young girls.
I take the opposite view. This book might have a positive impact on
youngsters, perhaps forcing them to think twice before bullying and ridiculing
their peers. In case you haven’t noticed, the number of school outcasts
seeking revenge has increased dramatically, and lethally, since King published
his novel. There are plenty of Carries in our schools, and we are fortunate that
they don’t possess her powers. That said, you don’t need telekinetic ability to
wreak havoc in the classrooms. Many school outcasts require intervention or
just our compassion. This horror novel just might convey that lesson to those
who would ignore a more didactic or pedagogical message.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His most recent book,
Love Songs: The Hidden History, is published by Oxford University Press.
Publication date: January 25, 2016
| Carrie by Stephen King |
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Great literary works
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Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of mystery &
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Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
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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. T.G.
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. T.G.
Essay by Ted Gioia
| First Edition of Carrie |
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
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 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
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
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
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
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
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
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
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
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
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
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
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
_____
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
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SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
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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
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Giles Goat-Boy
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The Demolished Man
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A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
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Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
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The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
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A Clockwork Orange
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Ender's Game
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The Kingdom of This World
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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The Yiddish Policemen's Union
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Stories of Your Life and Others
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Childhood's End
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A Fall of Moondust
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2001: A Space Odyssey
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
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Little, Big
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The Fifty Year Sword
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House of Leaves
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Fifth Business
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Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
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Nova
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
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The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
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Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
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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
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American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
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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
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The Centauri Device
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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
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Dune
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Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
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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
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The Big Time
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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
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Herovit's World
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Station Eleven
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Doctor Faustus
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100 Years of Solitude
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Wittgenstein's Mistress
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Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
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The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
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Dangerous Laughter
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Cloud Atlas
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Behold the Man
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The Final Programme
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Beloved
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1Q84
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Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
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Ada, or Ardor
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The Time Traveler's Wife
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Ringworld
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Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
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At Swim-Two-Birds
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The Famished Road
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Love in the Ruins
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Tales of Mystery & Imagination
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Gateway
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The Color of Magic
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Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
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Midnight's Children
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The Female Man
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Blindness
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Dimension of Miracles
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Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
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Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
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City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
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Snow Crash
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Bug Jack Barron
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Dracula
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Glasshouse
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More Than Human
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Some of Your Blood
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Gulliver's Travels
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The White Hotel
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Warm Worlds and Otherwise
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The Hobbit
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The Mixed Men
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Slan
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The World of Null A
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Emphyrio
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Around the Moon
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From the Earth to the Moon
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Cat's Cradle
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The Sirens of Titan
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Infinite Jest
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Hieroglyphic Tales
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The First Men in the Moon
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The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
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Cloudstreet
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Orlando
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The Bear Comes Home
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Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
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The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
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Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
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