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
忙しい?