Barry N. Malzberg’s fiction earned him the 1973 John W. Campbell Memorial Award, nominations for the Philip K. Dick and Theodore Sturgeon Awards, as well as two Hugo and six Nebula Award nominations. Born in 1939, he earned a degree from Syracuse University, worked for the New York City government, and made his first professional fiction sale in 1966. He wrote fiction in a variety of genres under several pseudonyms, and also worked as an agent, editor, and reviewer.
But he is perhaps best known for his essays. His two earlier collections of essays, The Engines of the Night (1982) and Breakfast in the Ruins (2007) both won the Locus Award, and both were finalists for the Hugo Award.
Collected here are nearly fifty of Malzberg’s latest essays. They may upset you, may depress you, may shock you, but they will make you think, and lead you to a different view of the world. Also included are introductions by Mike Resnick and Paul Di Filippo.
"The impressions and insights that abound in these columns make this book indispensable for any fan of science fiction." —Publishers Weekly
“Malzberg pulls no punches and bears no fools: he knows his stuff.… If you care about science fiction, this is the book for you.” —Don Sakers in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
“Eminently readable. Malzberg’s is a voice that needs to be heard.” —Charles de Lint in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Strikingly written and shot through with sharp observations… as exasperating as it is fascinating.… Prose like this can be… exhilarating.” —Russell Letson in Locus
“Incisive, wise, mordant, informed by a deep understanding of science fiction in all its aspects—a book of indispensable essays.” —Robert Silverberg, SFWA Grand Master
“Elegies and rants, a prose that Mencken might envy, seemingly eidetic recall for everything that has ever happened in science fiction's garish, slightly down-at-the-heels cabaret, plus an outlook on life as clear-eyed and weary-hearted as Edward Hopper’s. Barry Malzberg is sf’s institutional memory. Here is a full house of wise, provocative, and plangent essays—read ’em and weep.” —Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning literary journalist
“The most important book about science fiction published in the last decade.” —John-Henri Holmberg, Swedish author, critic, publisher, and translator
