Mindscapes, the Geographies of Imagined Worlds

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Southern Illinois University Press, 1989 - 302 pages

Eighteen essays plus four examples from the ninth annual J. Lloyd Eaton Conference on Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature at the University of California, Riverside.

The concept of mindscape, Slusser and Rabkin explain, allows critics to focus on a single fundamental problem: "The constant need for a relation between mind and some being external to mind."

The essayists are Poul Anderson, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Ronald J. Heckelman, David Brin, Frank McConnell, George E. Slusser, James Romm, Jack G. Voller, Peter Fitting, Michael R. Collings, Pascal J. Thomas, Reinhart Lutz, Joseph D. Miller, Gary Westfahl, Bill Lee, Max P. Belin, William Lomax, and Donald M. Hassler.

The book concludes with four authors discussing examples of mindscape. The participants are Jean-Pierre Barricelli, Gregory Benford, Gary Kern, and David N. Samuelson.

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About the author (1989)

George E. Slusser was born in San Francisco, California on July 14, 1939. He received a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, a Diplôme d'Études Françaises from the Université of Poitiers, and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University. He was curator emeritus of the University of California, Riverside's Eaton Collection and professor emeritus of comparative literature, joined the UCR Library in 1979 and, beginning in 1991, held a joint position as professor of comparative literature until his retirement in 2005. During his lifetime, he wrote or edited nearly 40 books including Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in His Own Land, The Farthest Shores of Ursula K. LeGuin, The Bradbury Chronicles, Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin, The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke, and The Delany Intersection: Samuel R. Delany Considered as a Writer of Semi-Precious Words. He also co-authored several books with his wife, Danièle Châtelain-Slusser, including Three Science Fiction Novellas: From Prehistory to the End of Mankind and a study of Balzac's The Centenarian. In 1986, he received the Pilgrim Award for lifetime achievement in the field of science fiction scholarship. He died on November 4, 2014 at the age of 75.

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