Taking A Second Look At Gertrude Stein – And Finding A Lot To Like

“Not every ‘genius’ is equally suffocated by the label. Readers know the extraordinary reputations of Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf, but some prefer ‘Richard III’ to ‘Richard II,’ or ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ to ‘Orlando.’ They feel at liberty to discriminate. Fewer readers imagine they can create their own Stein; many feel she is beyond their capacity to understand.”

Writer William Gibson Invented Cyberspace. What’s He Doing Now?

What does one of the most famous living science fiction writers listen to? “It’s called ‘The Original Sound of Cumbia: The History of Colombian Cumbia & Porro as Told by the Phonograph 1948-79’ and it was compiled by someone who calls himself Quantic. I’d call it dance music but what do I know? Do I dance to it? Not that I’d readily admit to.”

How Madeleine L’Engle Proved Science Fiction Isn’t Just For Guys

When “A Wrinkle in Time” came out in 1962, girls mostly didn’t read science fiction – and it wasn’t written for them. But L’Engle’s first book defied the norms. “Though a major crossover success with boys as well (with more than 10 million copies sold to date), the book has especially won over young girls. And it usually reaches them at a particularly pivotal moment of pre-adolescence when they are actively seeking to define themselves, their ambitions and place in the world.”