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The Vintage Book of Amnesia: An Anthology of Writing on the Subject of Memory Loss (2000)

by Jonathan Lethem

Other authors: Martin Amis (Contributor), John Franklin Bardin (Contributor), Donald Barthelme (Contributor), Jorge Luis Borges (Contributor), Julio Cortázar (Contributor)26 more, L. J. Davis (Contributor), Philip K. Dick (Contributor), Thomas M. Disch (Contributor), Steve Erickson (Contributor), Brian Fawcett (Contributor), Karen Joy Fowler (Contributor), David Grand (Contributor), Russell Hoban (Contributor), Shirley Jackson (Contributor), Anna Kavan (Contributor), Jonathan Lethem (Contributor), Kelly Link (Contributor), Haruki Murakami (Contributor), Vladimir Nabokov (Contributor), Flann O'Brien (Contributor), Geoffrey O'Brien (Contributor), Thomas Palmer (Contributor), Walker Percy (Contributor), Dennis Potter (Contributor), Christopher Priest (Contributor), Oliver Sacks (Contributor), Lawrence Shainberg (Contributor), Robert Sheckley (Contributor), Edmund White (Contributor), Cornell Woolrich (Contributor), Valentine Worth (Contributor)

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2162123,907 (3.48)5
Jonathan Lethem is perhaps our most active literary voice mining the genre margins of our culture.nbsp;nbsp;In this unique collection he creates an anthology that no one else could.nbsp;nbsp;He draws on the work of such unforgettables as Julio Cortazar, who presents a man caught between the ancient and modern worlds unable to say which is real; Philip K. Dick, who tells the story of a man trapped on a spaceship of the somnolent, unable to sleep and slowly losing his mind; Shirley Jackson, who takes us on a nightmarish trip across town with a young secretary; and Oliver Sacks, who presents us with an aging hippie who possesses no memory of anything that has taken place since the early seventies. What Lethem has done is nothing less than define a new genre of literature-the amnesia story-and in the process he invites us to sit down, pick up the book, and begin to forget. Also including: John Franklin Bardin, Donald Barthelme, Thomas M. Disch, Karn Joy Fowler, David Grand, Anna Kavan, Haruki Murakami, Flann O'Brien, Edmund White, and many others.… (more)
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Two problems with this book. First, the title is misleading since only about 1/5 of the stories (and a couple of essays) deal with what I would call amnesia, the rest could mostly be loosely defined as mind or memory stories, and about 1/10 just don't belong here. They must have been editor favorites that Lethem had been dying to use somewhere. This wouldn't be a big problem if most of the stories were exceptional. I'm not adverse to genre bending but I expect a book like this that calls itself out as a particular thing, is that thing.

The second problem is they're not exceptional overall. These stories are overall average and a few below average. Most were just dull. There were only one or two that really grabbed my attention and became more memorable (he, he). Even the Lethem contribution starts great and then just devolves into (alleged) cleverness.

The only thing I'm sure of is in about 2 years I will have developed amnesia whenever someone asks me anything about this book. ( )
  Gumbywan | Jun 24, 2022 |
I can't say that I read every single story, but the opening essay by Lethem is pretty interesting. He wanted the book to be about amnesia as a literary device, not just a psychological state. So there are lots of stories in which no one has amnesia, but pieces are missing in some way. I especially liked the Borges story.

Side note: I really recommend Lethem's book The Fortress of Solitude if you like comics, a little bit of fantasy in the real world, music, and coming of age stories. ( )
  kgib | Mar 31, 2013 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Lethem, Jonathanprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Amis, MartinContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bardin, John FranklinContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Barthelme, DonaldContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Borges, Jorge LuisContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Cortázar, JulioContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Davis, L. J.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Dick, Philip K.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Disch, Thomas M.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Erickson, SteveContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fawcett, BrianContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fowler, Karen JoyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Grand, DavidContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hoban, RussellContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Jackson, ShirleyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Kavan, AnnaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lethem, JonathanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Link, KellyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Murakami, HarukiContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Nabokov, VladimirContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
O'Brien, FlannContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
O'Brien, GeoffreyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Palmer, ThomasContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Percy, WalkerContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Potter, DennisContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Priest, ChristopherContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Sacks, OliverContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Shainberg, LawrenceContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Sheckley, RobertContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
White, EdmundContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Woolrich, CornellContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Worth, ValentineContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
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Jonathan Lethem is perhaps our most active literary voice mining the genre margins of our culture.nbsp;nbsp;In this unique collection he creates an anthology that no one else could.nbsp;nbsp;He draws on the work of such unforgettables as Julio Cortazar, who presents a man caught between the ancient and modern worlds unable to say which is real; Philip K. Dick, who tells the story of a man trapped on a spaceship of the somnolent, unable to sleep and slowly losing his mind; Shirley Jackson, who takes us on a nightmarish trip across town with a young secretary; and Oliver Sacks, who presents us with an aging hippie who possesses no memory of anything that has taken place since the early seventies. What Lethem has done is nothing less than define a new genre of literature-the amnesia story-and in the process he invites us to sit down, pick up the book, and begin to forget. Also including: John Franklin Bardin, Donald Barthelme, Thomas M. Disch, Karn Joy Fowler, David Grand, Anna Kavan, Haruki Murakami, Flann O'Brien, Edmund White, and many others.

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Book description
Contains:
  • Introduction / Jonathan Lethem
  • Dream Science [excerpt] / Thomas Palmer
  • The Night Fave Up (La noche boca arriba) / Julio Cortázar
  • Other People [excerpt] / Martin Amis
  • Nightmare / Shirley Jackson
  • Memories of Amnesia [excerpt] / Lawrence Shainberg
  • Warm / Robert Sheckley
  • Soul Walker / Brian Fawcett
  • Cowboys Don't Cry [excerpt] / L.J. Davis
  • The Second Coming [excerpt] / Walker Percy
  • Funes, His Memory / Jorge Luis Borges
  • Black Curtain [excerpt] / Cornell Woolrich
  • The Third Policeman [excerpt] / Flann O'Brien
  • Five Fucks / Jonathan Lethem
  • Forgetting Elena [excerpt] / Edmund White
  • Sarah Canary [excerpt] / Karen Joy Fowler
  • Last Hippie / Oliver Sacks
  • Notes Toward a History of the Seventies [excerpt] / Geoffrey O'Brien
  • Ticket to Ride [excerpt] / Dennis Potter
  • Fall of the Roman Empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of Raging Winds / Haruki Murakami
  • Geoffrey Sonnabend's Obliscence: Theories of Forgetting and the Problem of Matter, an Encapsulation / Valentine Worth
  • I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon / Philip K. Dick
  • The Zebra Struck / Anna Kavan
  • The Squirrel Cage / Thomas M. Disch
  • Louse [excerpt] / David Grand
  • Game / Donald Barthelme
  • The Affirmation [excerpt] / Christopher Priest
  • Kleinzeit [excerpt] / Russell Hoban
  • Days Between Stations [excerpt] / Steve Ericson
  • That in Aleppo Once / Vladimir Nabokov
  • The Deadly Percheron [excerpt] / John Franklin Bardin
  • Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose / Kelly Link
  • An Incomplete Annotated Bibliography of Amnesia Fiction / Jonathan Lethem
  • Contributors / Jonathan Lethem
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