The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of How Science Fiction Conquered the World

From one of science fiction's most acclaimed novelists comes this engrossing journey through the books, movies, and television programs that have shaped our perspective of both the present and the future. In an uncompromising, often irreverent survey of the genre from Edgar Allan Poe to Philip K. Dick toStar Trek,Thomas M. Disch analyzes science fiction's impact on technological innovation, fashion, lifestyle, military strategy, the media, and much more.An illuminating look at the art of science fiction (with a practitioner's insight into craft), as well as a work of pointed literary and cultural criticism,The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Ofreveals how this "pulp genre" has captured the popular imagination while transforming the physical and social world in which we live.

Thomas M. Disch is the author of such classic works of science fiction as Camp Concentration, 334, The Brave Little Toaster, and On Wings of Song, all of which are cited in David Pringle's Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels. His criticism has appeared in the country's leading magazines and newspapers. His book The Castle of Indolence was a nominee for the National Book Critic Circle's Award in Criticism.