Description
Book SynopsisGene Wolfe is one of the most important American writers to emerge in the latter half of the twentieth century. The fact that he publishes in the field of fantastic literature (which includes horror, science and speculative fiction) has meant that his significance has been largely unacknowledged beyond and, at times, even within the genre. Nevertheless, he remains the author of some of the most stylistically distinct, structurally complex, and intellectually invigorating imaginative fiction of recent years. This collection of interviews and essays places under one cover an amazing selection of difficult-to-find resources for the avid Gene Wolfe reader and scholar. Essays concern the nature of writing, including character, structure and the profession of the writer. Also included are a series of interviews with Wolfe and the holy grail of ‘New Sun’ aficionados: Books in the Book of the New Sun, previously only available in a rare small-press volume. This collection will inspire fans and scholars alike to commit themselves to debating new interpretations of Wolfe’s fiction.
Trade ReviewGene Wolfe is a fascinating and infuriating writer whose oblique style, complexity of tone, playfulness of manner, and insistence that we read more between the lines than in practically any other sf novelist mean that his work demands and repays endless close investigation. The book is, inevitably, going to prove valuable.
Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 36, Part 1Table of Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I: The Trackless Meadows of Old Time
- 1. Gene Wolfe: An Interview
- Malcolm Edwards
- 2. An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Joan Gordon
- 3. An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Melissa Mia Hall
- 4. Interview: Gene Wolfe – ‘The Legerdemain of the Wolfe’
- Robert Frazier
- 5. Riding a Bicycle Backwards: An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Colin Greenland
- 6. A Conversation with Gene Wolfe
- Nancy Kress and Calvin Rich
- 7. An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Elliott Swanson
- 8. On Encompassing the Entire Universe: An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Larry McCaffery
- 9. Gene Wolfe Interview
- James B. Jordan
- 10. Gene Wolfe Interview
- Brendan Baber
- 11. Peter and the Wolfe: Gene Wolfe in Conversation
- Peter Wright
- 12. Suns New, Long, and Short: An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Lawrence Person
- 13. A Magus of Many Suns: An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Nick Gevers
- 14. Some Moments with the Magus: An Interview with Gene Wolfe
- Nick Gevers, Michael Andre-Driussi and James Jordan
- Part II: The Wild Joy of Strumming
- 15. Books in The Book of the New Sun
- 16. Wolfe’s Rules: What You Must Do to Be a Writer
- 17. Balding, Avuncular Gene’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Creating Memorable Characters
- 18. Wolfe’s Irreproducible Truths About Novels
- 19. Nor the Summers as Golden: Writing Multivolume Works
- 20. What Do They Mean, SF?
- 21. The Special Problems of Science Fiction
- 22. How to Be a Writer’s Family
- 23. Libraries on the Superhighway – Rest Stop or Roadkill?
- 24. The Handbook of Permissive English
- 25. More Than Half of You Can’t Read This
- 26. Wolfe’s Inalienable Truths About Reviewing
- 27. A Fantasist Reads the Bible and Its Critics
- Index
