Reflections and Refractions

A collection of columns originally published in various magazines between 1973 and 1997 discusses science fiction, science and society, the profession of writing, and other writers

FOREWORD: Pontifications

xi

(10)

ONE: SCIENCE FICTION: SOME GENERAL THOUGHTS

xxi

Enwonderment

1

(4)

Bat Durston's Blasting Jets

5

(3)

Dumbing Down

8

(3)

All Those Picture-Books

11

(3)

Picture-Books, Continued

14

(3)

Too Many Sequels

17

(4)

The Way the Future Looks: Blade Runner and THX-1138

21

(7)

Science Fiction and the Future

28

(8)

Boomers and the Science Fiction Boom

36

(3)

The Audience Grows Older

39

(5)

Gresham's Law and Science Fiction

44

(4)

Gresham's Law, Continued

48

(5)

TWO: ABOUT SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

53

(88)

Genetic Hysteria

55

(4)

More Genetic Hysteria

59

(3)

Those Sinister Antifreeze Bacteria Again

62

(4)

The Case Against the Antifreeze Bacteria

66

(3)

Killer Tomatoes from Outer Space

69

(4)

Genetic Luddites Yet Again

73

(4)

The Last of the Codfish

77

(4)

Extinct Again

81

(4)

A Species Saved Is a Species Earned

85

(4)

Ovary Transplants?

89

(4)

The Gay Gene: One

93

(5)

The Gay Gene: Two

98

(5)

Warning: Radiation Zone

103

(3)

Embalm Your Spouse

106

(3)

Creationism

109

(3)

Feedback

112

(3)

Alternative Energy Sources

115

(3)

Getting Rid of Acid Rain

118

(3)

Getting Rid of Acid Rain, Continued

121

(3)

The Green Flash

124

(4)

Gods Almighty

128

(4)

The Voyager Photos

132

(4)

Six Trillion Miles High

136

(5)

THREE: THE PROFESSION OF WRITING

141

(88)

The Making of a Science-Fiction Writer

143

(40)

The Long Despair of Doing Nothing Well

183

(4)

Falsus In Uno, Falsus In Omnibus

187

(3)

The Curse of Thoth

190

(4)

Beginnings

194

(4)

To a Writer Just Starting Out

198

(4)

The Perils of Prosperity

202

(3)

Starting Too Soon

205

(3)

Becoming a Writer

208

(3)

What a Writer Needs to Know

211

(4)

Short Stories vs. Novels

215

(4)

Revisions

219

(3)

Writers' Correspondence

222

(3)

Long-Term Careers

225

(4)

FOUR: COLLEAGUES

229

(102)

Players on the Team

231

(5)

Going to Conventions

236

(8)

Isaac

244

(4)

Heinlein

248

(5)

Don Wollheim

253

(4)

Lester

257

(5)

Campbell, Boucher, Gold

262

(5)

Philip K. Dick: A Premature Memoir

267

(5)

Philip K. Dick: The Short Fiction

272

(10)

James Tiptree, Jr.

282

(5)

Roger and John

287

(7)

Zelazny: This Immortal

294

(5)

Harlan

299

(8)

Theodore Sturgeon

307

(2)

Jack Vance: The Eyes of the Overworld and the Dying Earth

309

(11)

Jack Williamson

320

(3)

City: Clifford D. Simak

323

(8)

FIVE: TODAY'S WORLD

331

(62)

The Power of Words: One

333

(4)

The Power of Words: Two

337

(4)

Gourmet to Go

341

(4)

The International Language

345

(4)

The Fragmented Global Village

349

(3)

Political Correctness, One: Minority Hypersensitivity

352

(3)

Political Correctness, Two: Redskins and Bloody-Nosed Aliens

355

(3)

Political Correctness, Three: Geezer Ruminations

358

(3)

I'd Like to Talk to You, Robert

361

(4)

Gold Doesn't Smell

365

(4)

Struldbrugs

369

(4)

When Empires End

373

(4)

The Revenge of History

377

(5)

Holocaust Deniers

382

(5)

Coming Attractions

387

(6)

SIX: A FEW PERSONAL ITEMS

393

The Books of Childhood

395

(4)

The Books of Childhood, Continued

399

(4)

The Oakland Fire

403

(5)

Dreams

408

(5)

A Science-Fiction Garden

413

(3)

Why I Wrote a Sequel After All

416

(4)

Introduction to "Sundance"

420

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Reflections and Refractions

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials