Norman Spinrad
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 14:05, 29 July 2007 WikiSysop (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | Norman Spinrad, born in [[New York City]], is a graduate of the [[Bronx High School of Science]]. In [[1957]] he entered [[City College of New York ]] and graduated in [[1961]] with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In [[1966]] he moved to [[San Francisco]], then to [[Los Angeles]], and now lives in [[Paris]]. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002. | + | '''Norman Richard Spinrad''' (born [[September 15]], [[1940]]) is an American [[science fiction]] author best known for his novel ''[[The Iron Dream]]'' and ''[[Bug Jack Barron]]''. |
| - | One of his most famous works, ''[[Bug Jack Barron]]'' (1969), a pre-[[cyberpunk]] tale of a cynical, exploitative talk-show host who gradually uncovers a conspiracy concerning an immortality treatment and the methods used in that treatment, was serialised in the British magazine ''[[New Worlds (magazine)|New Worlds]]'' during [[Michael Moorcock]]'s editorship. It was this novel, with its explicit language and cynical attitude to politicians, that aroused an English Member of Parliament's ire at the magazine's partial funding by the British [[Arts Council]]. A memorable quote from this novel is, "The saddest day of your life isn't when you decide to sell out. The saddest day of your life is when you decide to sell out and ''nobody wants to buy''." | + | == Biography == |
| - | {{review}} | + | Norman Spinrad, born in [[New York City]], is a graduate of the [[Bronx High School of Science]]. In [[1957]] he entered [[City College of New York ]] and graduated in [[1961]] with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In [[1966]] he moved to [[San Francisco]], then to [[Los Angeles]], and now lives in [[Paris]]. He married fellow novelist [[N. Lee Wood]] in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002. |
| - | His 1972 novel ''[[The Iron Dream]]'' is an unusual [[alternate history (fiction)|alternate history]] novel; the bulk of the text is a reprint of a (fictional) fantasy classic, ''Lord of the Swastika'', written in a couple of weeks by [[Adolf Hitler]], who in the reality of the novel is a famous fantasy writer and not a dictator. The remainder of the book is a commentary on the text, pointing out the elements of fetishism, phallic imagery, and paranoia in this most famous and beloved of fantasy epics. As a commentary on and parody of the [[fascism|fascistic]] undertones in popular fantasy fiction, Spinrad's book was not generally well-received. Both communism and Nazism, of course, have their utopian and even science fictional dimensions{{Fact|date=July 2007}}: an eternal happy state for the "proletariat", a Thousand-Year Reich for the "Aryans". There are elements of Nazism in some SF works,{{Fact|date=July 2007}} and of SF in Nazism. Spinrad examines this relationship by magnifying it using post-Freudian psychological analysis. This is a book that shows what a true Nazi would do if he could do absolutely everything he wished. According to an article attributed to Spinrad[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/normanspinrad/knopfint.htm] the book was banned for eight years in Germany, but was finally exonerated after appeals. Actually, the sale of the book as such was not prohibited, because that ban would have been contrary to the freedom of speech, but the public display of the book or its covers was prohibited, because of the swastika symbol, which is banned in Germany. So the book was sold "[[under the counter]]", to those buyers who specifically asked for it. | + | ==Bibliography== |
| + | ===Novels=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * ''[[The Solarians]]'' ([[1966]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Agent of Chaos]]'' ([[1967]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Men in the Jungle]]'' ([[1967]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Bug Jack Barron]]'' ([[1969]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Iron Dream]]'' ([[1972]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Passing through the Flame]]'' ([[1975]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Riding the Torch]]'' ([[1978]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[A World Between]]'' ([[1979]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Songs from the Stars]]'' ([[1980]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Mind Game]]'' ([[1980]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Void Captain's Tale]]'' ([[1983]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Child of Fortune]]'' ([[1985]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Little Heroes (book)|Little Heroes]]'' ([[1987]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Children of Hamelin]]'' ([[1991]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Russian Spring]]'' ([[1991]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Deus X]]'' ([[1993]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Pictures at 11]]'' ([[1994]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Journals of the Plague Years]]'' ([[1995]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Greenhouse Summer]]'' ([[1999]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[He walked among us]]'' ([[2003]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Druid King]]'' ([[2003]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Mexica (novel)]]'' ([[2005]]) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Collections=== | ||
| + | * ''[[The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde]]'' ([[1970]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[No Direction Home (book)|No Direction Home]]'' (May [[1975]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[The Star-Spangled Future]]'' ([[1979]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Other Americas]]'' ([[1988]]) | ||
| + | * ''[[Vampire Junkies]]'' ([[1994]]) | ||
| + | His short story ''[[Down the Rabbit Hole]]'' ([[1966]]) was published in the anthology ''The War Book'' (edited by [[James Sallis]], 1969). | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Teleplays=== | ||
| + | * "[[The Doomsday Machine (TOS episode)|The Doomsday Machine]]" (''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'') | ||
| + | * "Tag Team" (''[[Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'') | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Non-fiction=== | ||
| + | * ''Science Fiction in the Real World''. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990. | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author best known for his novel The Iron Dream and Bug Jack Barron.
Contents |
[edit]
Biography
Norman Spinrad, born in New York City, is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. In 1957 he entered City College of New York and graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree as a pre-law major. In 1966 he moved to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles, and now lives in Paris. He married fellow novelist N. Lee Wood in 1990; they divorced in 2005. They had no children. Spinrad served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from 1980 to 1982 and again from 2001 to 2002.
[edit]
Bibliography
[edit]
Novels
- The Solarians (1966)
- Agent of Chaos (1967)
- The Men in the Jungle (1967)
- Bug Jack Barron (1969)
- The Iron Dream (1972)
- Passing through the Flame (1975)
- Riding the Torch (1978)
- A World Between (1979)
- Songs from the Stars (1980)
- The Mind Game (1980)
- The Void Captain's Tale (1983)
- Child of Fortune (1985)
- Little Heroes (1987)
- Children of Hamelin (1991)
- Russian Spring (1991)
- Deus X (1993)
- Pictures at 11 (1994)
- Journals of the Plague Years (1995)
- Greenhouse Summer (1999)
- He walked among us (2003)
- The Druid King (2003)
- Mexica (novel) (2005)
[edit]
Collections
- The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde (1970)
- No Direction Home (May 1975)
- The Star-Spangled Future (1979)
- Other Americas (1988)
- Vampire Junkies (1994)
His short story Down the Rabbit Hole (1966) was published in the anthology The War Book (edited by James Sallis, 1969).
[edit]
Teleplays
- "The Doomsday Machine" (Star Trek: The Original Series)
- "Tag Team" (Land of the Lost)
[edit]
Non-fiction
- Science Fiction in the Real World. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Norman Spinrad" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
