Overview

Grant Wythoffpresents a wide array of texts by famed writer, publisher, and inventor HugoGernsback that were foundational both for science fiction and emerging mediastudies. Through painstaking research and extensive annotations and commentary,Wythoff aims to reverse the widespread misunderstanding of Gernsback within thehistory of science fiction criticism, reintroducing us to Gernsback and theorigins of science fiction.

Full Product Details

9781517900854

Table of Contents

Reviews

Each page is a small feast for the intellect. -Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress The quality of Wythoff's editorial work is outstanding, and it is well served by the clever typographical presentation of the book, pleasant to read, well indexed, and nicely illustrated. Thanks to this work, it should be possible to reframe the figure of Gernsback. -Leonardo Reviews Wythoff's indispensable account of Gernsback's understanding of the power of media is remarkable in many ways and is expected to reset people's understanding of SF. Wythoff uses examples of Gernsback's writing - fiction stories, essays, articles, editorials...even the inventor's own blueprints - to show how a tinkerer launched a new era in written science fiction. -Kirkus Reviews If I have one complaint about The Perversity of Things, it is that I did not want it to end-or, at least, I wanted more. Wythoff invites his audience members to become engaged critical readers who contribute to the development of science fiction and media history through our own intellectual tinkering and innovation. I cannot help but think that Gernsback would be proud. Highly recommended. -Science Fiction Studies Grant Wythoff's splendid work of scholarship dispels the dank, historic mists of a literary subculture with starkly factual archival research. An amazing vista of electronic media struggle is revealed here, every bit as colorful and cranky as Hugo Gernsback's pulp magazines-even the illustrations and footnotes are fascinating. I'm truly grateful for this work and will never think of American science fiction in the same way again. -Bruce Sterling, author, journalist, and critic Hugo Gernsback was one of the strangest and most weirdly influential minds of the twentieth century, and his story has never before been fully told. Grant Wythoff's The Perversity of Things is brilliant and beautiful-indispensible for anyone who wants to understand the collision of technology and culture in which science fiction was born. -James Gleick, author of Time Travel

Grant Wythoff's splendid work of scholarship dispels the dank, historic mists of a literary subculture with starkly factual archival research. An amazing vista of electronic media struggle is revealed here, every bit as colorful and cranky as Hugo Gernsback's pulp magazines even the illustrations and footnotes are fascinating. I'm truly grateful for this work and will never think of American science fiction in the same way again. Bruce Sterling, author, journalist, and critic</p> Hugo Gernsback was one of the strangest and most weirdly influential minds of the twentieth century, and his story has never before been fully told. Grant Wythoff s <i>The Perversity of Things</i> is brilliant and beautiful indispensible for anyone who wants to understand the collision of technology and culture in which science fiction was born. James Gleick, author of <i>Time Travel</i></p>

Author Information

Hugo Gernsback (18841967) was a Luxembourgish- American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher who founded the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, in 1926. The annual Hugo Awards for the best works of science fiction and fantasy are named in his honor. Grant Wythoff is a postdoctoral fellow in the Society of Fellows in the Humanities and a lecturer in the department of English and comparative literature at Columbia University.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available