TOC: The Secret History of Science Fiction edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel

Posted on August 20, 2009 by John DeNardo in Books // 7 Comments

Here is the table of contents for the upcoming Tachyon Publications anthology The Secret History of Science Fiction edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, which reprints stories published from 1971-2007 making the case for the convergence of mainstream fiction and literary sf:

“Angouleme” by Thomas M. Disch
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“Ladies and gentlemen, This is Your Crisis: by Kate Wilhelm
“Descent of Man” by T.C. Boyle
“Human Moments in World War III” by Don DeLillo
“Homelanding” by Margaret Atwood
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Carter Scholz
“Interlocking Pieces” by Molly Gloss
“Salvador” by Lucius Shepard
“Schwarzschild Radius” by Connie Willis
“Buddha Nostril Bird” by John Kessel
“The Ziggurat” by Gene Wolfe
“The Hardened Criminals” by Jonathan Lethem
“Standing Room Only” by Karen Joy Fowler
“10¹⁶ to 1″ by James Patrick Kelly
“93990” by George Saunders
“The Martian Agent, A planetary Romance” by Michael Chabon
“Frankenstein’s Daughter” by Maureen F. McHugh
“The Wizard of West Orange” by Steven Millhauser

Fred Kiesche // August 20, 2009 at 11:36 am //

Once upon a time there was writing. Or literature. Dickens wrote SF. Twain wrote SF. Kipling wrote SF. Poe wrote SF. They also wrote “literature”. They also wrote mysteries. They also wrote horror. They also wrote humor.

Etc.

Then somebody (take your pick) decided to knock down the Tower of Babel and create the “category”. And all of a sudden it was a no-no for an author to wrote in one genre and then another. Some could do it, most had to reinvent themselves or take on additional names, etc.

Silly people. Just read what you like. Never mind the labels.