I have so many problems with this stupid book that I think just listing them out is probably the best way to include most of them (and I'll still forget a few, I'm sure). I'll just add more as I think of them.So:1. Thomas Disch, who was a lifelong author of science fiction and presumably reader of science fiction and, with this book, "historian" of science fiction, HATES science fiction, and people who write science fiction, and especially people who enjoy reading science fiction.2. Disch opens

I am Stil in two minds over this book - there is no doubt that Mr Disch is both a talented and proficient author but I am struggling to figure out if that is tinged with something else. The book like many others of it style is a personal reflection of the genre and by that very fact the people who populate it from fans to progenitors. In the case of this author it feels like it it swings from awe and pride (how many authors has he met both living and now dead who could be considered SF royalty)

What starts off promising to be a provocative and interesting history of science fiction's effect on modern life--a profound topic deserving a thorough treatment--devolves about halfway through into a personal and political bitchfest, and not a very entertaining one. Thomas M. Disch's work is marred by his copious barrels of sour grapes garnered over years as an also-ran, and his insistence as a political activist on conflating political agendas with personal and artistic integrity. More honest-...

This is a highly opinionated work with strong opinions that seem to rub some people the wrong way. Not me. I enjoyed it even when I wasn't in agreement.I think Disch here is discussing mainly "pulp" science fiction, particularly short stories, which was, after all, the most popular of early SF. He himself wrote more literary SF, and praises other literary writers such as John Crowley. But that isn't what he is writing about here. In that light, his declaration that Edgar Allan Poe is the father

The late Thomas Disch left behind a respectable body of fiction, mostly in the genre of science fiction (e.g. THE GENOCIDES, CAMP CONCENTRATION), but his best book may be this 1998 study of the relationship between SF and American popular culture. DREAMS is not an academic book, and its narrative tends to ramble or veer into autobiography, but Disch's tight prose style and breadth of cultural knowledge keep the reader's attention and maintain the book's relevance.One may summarize Disch's overal...

Thomas Disch was an acclaimed Sci-Fi writer, but from the tone of the essays in this book it appears that he was a self-hating Sci-Fi writer.The book in general attempts to illustrate how science fiction has shaped/influenced modern (mostly American) culture. Some of his conclusions are:Sci-Fi is responsible for sociopathic klller/suicidal religious cults; Feminist Sci-Fi writers are Rushian feminazis;Heinlein was a bomb-loving racist;If you believe in UFOs, then obviously you must be a reader o...

Skimmed and it sat on the shelf until due (a couple of months). Not for me! Read a couple of the negative reviews before you take it on, such as https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."I have so many problems with this stupid book that I think just listing them out is probably the best way to include most of them ...1. Thomas Disch, who was a lifelong author of science fiction and presumably reader of science fiction and, with this book, "historian" of science fiction, HATES science fiction, an...

A nonfiction sci-fi polemic, this book was much fun to read. For someone like me, a sci-fi dilettante with no real understanding of the genre's history, the early chapters were an interesting discussion of the 19th century roots of science fantasy. Disch is wonderfully opinionated and this book sometimes reads like an erudite editorial. And, as with most editorials, I didn’t always agree with his conclusions, though I kept lapping it up page after page.

This is a Karen 3 star book not a Jasmine three star book. I mean I didn't dislike it as much as books that I usually give three stars. Today three stars is good. It is a good fun book. It is written by the guy who wrote the brave little toaster, yeah I know who knew the brave little toaster was actually a book. Why didn't I just read that you ask? it appears to be heavily out of print and difficult to find. However I found it on demonoid and will read it eventually. I am very excited about the

This is a great review of SF and it's impact on pop culture. It's razor sharp, some of it's views will probably leave you with a sour taste, Disch is very rigid in his reviews of some prominent authors in the field. Still, any reader with a dose of criticism will enjoy this take on SF. His dissection of "feminist" and "military" SF will be insightful to anyone willing to probe the genre with a clear mind. I must say I was startled at first with some of his views(like the one that the majority of...

Sloppy and offensive at every turn. Skimming for case studies, and looking forward to the end. Disch presents himself as so unlikable I'm feeling skeeved about how many times I watched The Brave Little Toaster as a kid.

The subtitle of the book should be Lies and Liars that We Like. Marvelous performance by Disch.

The nerds have taken over the world was probably not a new sentiment even when this book was published 20 years ago, but few charted their rise and dominance over our domain on the rocket ship of science fiction. Of course it would take a sci-fi nerd who grew up into a SF author (his preferred shorthand) to tell that story. He does so thoroughly from the beginning, claiming Edgar Allen Poe as the genre’s forefather, acknowledging other’s claims that Mary Shelly deserves the title and dismissing

From “Can Girls Play Too? Feminizing SF”“If guys can have their Beowulfs, and Rolands and Captain Videos, why shouldn’t girls (and transsexuals) enjoy their own warrior imaginings?”

I picked this up in a discount book store several years ago, but it didn't hold my interest so it got set aside. Still, it seemed like such a good concept that I wanted to give it another try (even knowing that such things don't necessarily age well, and a book about science fiction and culture published in 1998 is bound to seem a bit dated more than a decade later). So, I finally picked it up again several months ago, and have been reading it very, very slowly, in between and amongst other thin...

My copy of The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of is dog-eared and well-loved, having been loaned out to literally dozens of SF fans. It's a book that offers richness after multiple readings. Thomas M. Disch writes a history of Science Fiction from the perspective of someone who knew all the key players amongst writers and fans for most of the 20th Century. It's written with evident affection for the genre, but he does not shy away from legitimate criticism. As one of the few openly gay SF authors writ...

THE STUFF OUR DREAMS ARE MADE OF/an overview ofhow science fiction changed the world. Includes NewtGingrich and Reagan saying outrageous predictions on howto use the US taxes to become overlords of theuniverse. Hypes, rightly, Haldeman's FOREVER WAR book. SaysSTRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was required reading for theManson kids, and has the chapter that includes a 4 waywhich was edited from the book. I skimmed over theWells and Poe section to hit the religious sectionwhich was good pay dirt. There'...

This is a rambling book about the history of science fiction and, especially, how it's affected life in America, by a very good SF writer and poet and critic. It's kind of a bleak picture; Disch didn't see much promise in the current state of SF, and he thought the Strategic Defense Initiative and the Heaven's Gate suicides were inevitable results of the American style of fantasy. But what he loved, he told about well, especially when talking about the '60s and '70s since he was there. Whether o...

A fascinating overview of science fiction by an insider who, one gathers, rather regretted that fact. Overall, Disch takes a dim view of the genre for which he is best remembered. He is merciless in his assessments of sacred cows ranging from Poe (a terrible writer), to Heinlein (a barely-closeted fascist), to the later works of Le Guin (polemical at the expense of artistry). Agree with him or not, his perspective is always informed, eloquent and, to my mind, well worth considering. Ultimately,

I was excited by the introduction, but then the first chapter turned into an incoherent ramble about how American society idolizes lying (with a bunch of honestly bizarre examples of faked accounts of rape and childhood abuse alongside UFO abductions, Watergate and Vietnam??). The second chapter was similarly incoherent, if at least marginally more on topic. The third chapter about humanities obsession with space travel was actually quite good. But I skipped ahead and read the chapters on women

This book changed my life. I’m still not sure how exactly but I feel it. Enough to give it 5 stars not because it is perfect but because of this feeling I found to be also in me and exemplified in this book. This feeling is not perfect information. Still it’s there. I had been for many years attempting to jettison this me out the airlock into space but it appears I must instead embrace all of me, including this shadow side. Back a few years, when this part of me was largely running amok in my ps...

Mr Disch comes across in this book as a sneering elitist. What he is, though, is just a snob. A contradictory snob at times, but a snob nonetheless. What he dislikes is work that takes an easy way, or one that has a particular barrow to push. He’s a slightly more articulate - and readable - version of Holden Caulfield, but here we get a glimpse at what Disch does enjoy, as well as glimpses into the contradictory self-awareness that arires from it.He has a wide knowledge of the field and the pers...

The shrill, hysterical reviews are almost as entertaining as the book itself. Unlike the reviewers, Disch presents well a thought out, cynical, provocative and personal analysis of the science fiction genre and its connection to society and the politics of its time - much of what he lived through and partook himself. This is not so much about technology, but rather the fascinating aspect of human nature that wants to believe in their childhood dreams so much ("a nation of liars") that we will ma...

One of the great titles for a book ever. Subtitle, notsomuch.Like his "On SF", Disch here unloads his dissatisfaction with SF. However, this book is a less full of anger than it is of sorrow. It seems that we all disappoint Disch with are likes and dislikes.If you want to be offended, Disch will offend you. Every chapter will have much to annoy the reader -- one can easily and cheaply pull offensive quotes from every page -- but that's not the point. Let Disch play it out. You may still disagree...

Unfortunately, this book wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be more about the ways science fiction influenced the world (science discoveries or breakthroughs, new inventions, etc.), but it ... isn't? Sometimes I think he's about to make a point along those lines (he mentions science fiction space travel, sooo... NASA? Nope, not really), but then he veers away.It was a decent book, but there are too many books on my to-read list to take the time reading a book that's only decent. Mov...

Like most of what one finds when they go looking for a history of science fiction, especially when it's by a maker of that history (as a New Wave big name), Disch's Dreams Our Stuff is Made of is very much a collection of his personal views and observations on the subject, rather than a piece of historiography such as the title seems to promise. And I have to admit that there is a lot here that I don't altogether agree with. Still, the book never fails to be interesting, and has at least its fai...

This book is equal parts searing, scalpel-like analysis and strange reactionary political statements from someone who seems to think anyone left of center has gone too far. Many chapters devolve into specific (obviously personal) fights, and that's instructive in its own way. A great book about Disch. Not a great book about SF more broadly.

I had to give up on this. DNF at 20% so I won’t be rating this. I couldn’t get into this as the tone was belligerent and dismissive in places so I could not get more than a couple of paras in at a time without having to put this down and de-stress. The central premise of how sci-do reader and writers were basically the same as charlatans was too far fetched for me.

Disch's book is a look at American SF writing based on themes he sees used in SF books. It really is an interesting read that at times is more polemical than informative. Nonetheless he offers some fascinating insights into the greater world of SF writing and publishing.

I anticipated a history of science fiction', of it's effect on modern life. What I got was hateful ranting about things political and personal, and not any I cared to read; not entertaining. The author seems quite bitter, it seems to seep out of every page. Recommend giving this one a pass.