The New Improved Sun Explained
| The New Improved Sun |
| Editor: | Thomas M. Disch |
| Cover Artist: | Jonathan Weld |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Harper & Row |
| Release Date: | 1975 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback) |
| Pages: | viii + 208 |
| Oclc: | 1499739 |
The New Improved Sun: An Anthology of Utopian S-F is an anthology of science fiction stories edited by American writer Thomas M. Disch, published in hardcover by Harper & Row in 1975. Second edition published by Hutchinson in 1976. Many of the stories are original to the volume.
Contents
- "Introduction: Buck Rogers in the New Jerusalem", Thomas M. Disch
- "Heavens Below: Fifteen Utopias", John Sladek (original)
- "Repairing the Office", Charles Naylor (original)
- "What You Get for Your Dollar", Brian W. Aldiss (from The Shape of Further Things, 1970)
- "The People of Prashad", James Keilty (Quark/2 1971)
- "A Few Things I Know About Whileaway", Joanna Russ (The Female Man 1975)
- "Drumble", Cassandra Nye (original)
- "A Clear Day in the Motor City", Eleanor Arnason (New Worlds 6 1973)
- "Settling the World", M. John Harrison (original)
- "Instead of the Cross, the Lollipop", B. F. Skinner (from Walden Two 1948)
- "I Always Do What Teddy Says," Harry Harrison (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine 1965)
- "Pyramids for Minnesota: A Serious Proposal", Thomas M. Disch (Harper's Magazine 1974)
- "The Zen Archer", Jonathan Greenblatt (original)
- "The Hero as Werwolf", Gene Wolfe (original)
- "The Change", H. G. Wells (from In the Days of the Comet, 1906)
Each of the vignettes in Sladek's "Fifteen Utopias" carries an individual subtitle. "Cassandra Nye" is a pseudonym of Charles Naylor.[1]
Reception
In The New York Times, Gerald Jonas notes that while the anthology's contents contradicted its subtitle, being mostly satires and dystopias, "Disch knows exactly what he is doing: he points out in a brief introduction that prescriptive Utopias tend to be not only dull but also silly and repugnant."[2]
Notes and References
- http://www.philsp.com/homeville/isfac/t37.htm#A803 Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections
- "Of Things to Come", The New York Times Book Review, October 26, 1975
