3) The Jewel-Hinged Jaw, by Samuel R. Delany

This is a collection of a dozen pieces about sf, written between 1966 and 1976. They vary greatly in both length and quality; the longest, an article called “Shadows”, is 80 pages, split into 60 sections which really appear just thrown together at random. I found some of this book stimulating but other bits overblown – for instance, Delany’s apparently serious argument that there is no difference in average height between men and women, it’s just that tall women and short men are oppressed by society and are in hiding as a result. I really bought the book for his essay on Thomas Disch (who I haven’t read) and Roger Zelazny (who I have) and I thought that was well worth the cost (I’ve promised my thoughts on this at greater length but have probably missed her deadline by now). His longer piece on The Dispossessed had some sensible points in it but attacked the book for being insufficiently feminist and open-minded about sex, a view which will doubtless surprise many of its readers. So there we are; all interesting, but some bits much more interesting and worthwhile than others.