From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Apr 28 13:39:45 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.book.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!Germany.EU.net!wizard.pn.com!satisfied.apocalypse.org!news2.near.net!lard.ftp.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!nobody From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Subject: A BOOKMAN'S FANTASY by Fred Lerner Message-ID: <9504241014.ZM7636@mtgpfs1.mt.att.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Sender: news@news.media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 22:57:17 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 52 A BOOKMAN'S FANTASY by Fred Lerner NESFA Press, ISBN 0-915368-65-X, 1995, 97pp, US$11.95? A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper Every year NESFA prints a book of the writing of its Boskone Fan Guest of Honor. This year Fred Lerner was the guest, and the book is A BOOKMAN'S FANTASY, a collection of twenty-four of his essays. Lerner was one of the founders of the Science Fiction Research Association, and his academic background shows through in several of the articles, such as "How Science Fiction Became Respectable," "Towards a Definition of Science Fiction: A Reply to James Gunn," and "Lester and Me" (about how Lester Del Rey was one of the examining committee for Lerner's doctoral dissertation, "Modern Science Fiction and the American Literary Community"). But Lerner allows comes through as a fan in his opinions about Kipling, Heinlein, horror, and his favorite books. And a surprising number are about Vermont, and why he lives there, and what he likes about it (and what he doesn't). The most harrowing is his "Farewell to Alexandria," in which he describes culling his library. It's enough to send shivers down the spine of any dedicated book collector. Many of the articles are reprinted from Lerner's fanzine LOFGEORNOST or Ed Meskys's NIEKAS, with a few from other sources. But the original sources are hard to come by, so it's nice to have this excellent selection reprinted in convenient form. If nothing else, it should remind a few people that they want to nominate LOFGEORNOST for best fanzine Hugo. [This is not going to be in your local super-store. If you don't have a science fiction speciality shop nearby, order by mail from someplace like the Science Fiction Shop or Uncle Hugo's, or direct from NESFA Press, P. O. Box 809, Framingham MA 01701-0203.] %T A Bookman's Fantasy %A Fred Lerner %C Framingham, Massachusetts %D February 1995 %I NESFA Press %O trade paperback, US$11.95 %G ISBN 0-915368-65-X %P 97pp -- Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn.Leeper@att.com "I don't think adversity necessarily builds character, but it certainly gives you an opportunity to display it." --Gary Bean (Open Systems Today, 1/9/95) -- --Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker, Author, and Cyberspace Bard MIT Media Lab - Intelligent Agents Group finger(1) for PGP key Voice: 617-253-9833 Pager: 617-945-1842 wex@media.mit.edu http://wex.www.media.mit.edu/people/wex/ "Are we fugitives from the law?" "Yes." "Idiocy is our only option."