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Loading... Dream Makersby Charles Platt
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) kitsune_reader | Nov 23, 2023 |   ) kslade | Dec 8, 2022 | Whether you'll like this, $3-worth, probably depends more on your orientation within SF than on its merits. I made my way through it, but sometimes it took some self-prodding. The lack of interest-arousal may have been due to the interviewer's selection of authors, few of which I had any particular prior interest in. Platt being of the British "New Worlds" coterie, the high proportion of his fellow-countrymen is probably expectable. But, the emphasis in selection was too much on the New Wave and psychology-oriented authors for my taste. (I go along with one of remarks from Silverberg's interview, "We were all trying to use the material of SF and carry it closer to [the literary]. I don't see any reason why that should succeed; it seems almost folly to think that it should, since SF is basically a mass-market category of entertainment and we were trying to make something elitist".) The authors interviewed are: Asimov, Disch, Sheckley, Vonnegut, Stine, Spinrad, Pohl, Delany, Malzberg, Bryant, Bester, Budrys, Farmer, VanVogt, Dick, Ellison, Bradbury, Herbert, Knight & Wilhelm, Moorcock, Ballard, Tubb, Watson, Brunner, Benford, Silverberg, Aldiss, Kornbluth's associates, and Platt himself. Giving Platt the benefit of the doubt when he claims not to be sexist, his personal preferences leave him with just the one token woman, and she as an appendage to her husband. Platt says he tried to get more, but LeGuin declined. Too bad he couldn't find any women of the august caliber of Stine (sorry, Roger) or Bryant! The interviews are accompanied by 2-1/8 x 1-3/4 inch photos, except Platt's own, which is 1/4 in. larger in both dimensions. [2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.] (  ) antao | Nov 7, 2018 |  tonydal | Sep 15, 2007 | no reviews | add a review
Awards
REVEALING, INSIGHTFUL INTERVIEWS WITH MORE THAN TWO DOZEN INFLUENTIAL SF WRITERS "I wanted to know about science fiction writers. Who were they, where were they, and how did they get published? How did they decide what to write, how much were they paid--and who put those awful covers on their books? I wanted to know about the process which caused a book to exist. My curiosity led me to interview twenty-nine science fiction writers for Dream Makers." Charles Platt "Excellent prose profiles ... you get the feeling that you really know each person that Platt has talked with ... highly recommended." -Amazing Stories Back in print! Historic interviews with legendary authors. Plus new material including: Introduction and updated Historical Context on the authors and their work in the decades following the book's original publication.These interviews were generally captured in the writer's environment and provide fascinating, behind the scenes views of their writing process and their state of mind. "I'm very impressed ... a tremendous piece of work. ... remarkable portraits." -J. G. Ballard In-depth conversations with Isaac Asimov, Thomas M. Disch, Ben Bova, Robert Sheckley, Kurt Vonnegut. Jr., Norman Spinrad, Frederik Pohl, Samuel R. Delany, Barry N. Malzberg, Edward Bryant, Alfred Bester, C. M. Kornbluth, Algis Budrys, Philip José Farmer, A. E. van Vogt, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm, Michael Moorcock, J.G. Ballard, E.C. Tubb, Ian Watson, John Brunner, Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, and Brian W. Aldiss. "So vivid, you wish they would never end. ... a special book." -Chicago Tribune"Wittily perceived and cleanly professional interviews with sci-fi writers, rich in information and wide in scope, free of indulgence and tunnel vision." -Philadelphia Inquirer "Compulsively instant reading ... other things got tossed aside for it." -Tan Wai-qnn Cover: Michael Marrak No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)809.3876Literature By Topic History, description and criticism of more than two literatures Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery and Speculative Fiction Speculative FictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.6)
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