Abraham Lincoln is alive and well, at least judging by pop culture. Not long ago, he got
remade as the hero of a Steven Spielberg movie, a rare honor which puts him up in the
stratosphere alongside Indiana Jones and E.T. Around that same time, another film featured
the exploits of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter—perhaps the strangest cinematic depiction
of a US President in the history of Hollywood. Not to be outdone, the TV series Parks and
Recreation followed up with an episode featuring a stripper, dressed as 16th president,
who exercises a very different kind of executive privilege at a bachelorette party.
Talk about versatility!
Yet for sheer conceptual daring, it would be hard to top
Lincoln in the Bardo, the Man Booker Prize-winning 2017
novel by George Saunders. Much like the vampire-hunting
Lincoln, the protagonist of this book is intent on dispatching
the undead on their journey to the hereafter. But the odd quirk
to Saunders’ novel is the author's commitment to historical
accuracy even while he embraces the most fanciful aspects
of the supernatural.
In fact, roughly a quarter of this book is presented in the form
of direct quotes from memoirs and scholarly works about the
Civil War era. Not all of the extracts are real, but these
passages still manage to convey a sense of scrupulous
verisimilitude. But the rest of the book is presented through
the shifting perspectives of more than a dozen ghost narrators.
They reside in the bardo—a term from Tibetan Buddhism
that refers to an intermediate zone between life and death. Saunders refuses to provide
much theological background here, and the readers are allowed (or perhaps forced) to
assign their own metaphysical interpretations to the unfolding incidents.
In fact, even the ghosts here aren’t sure where they are or what they’re doing. They prefer
to believe—or at least pretend—that they aren’t really dead, just sick. Coffins, for example,
are described as sick boxes, and a host of other circumlocutions are employed to avoid
confronting the truth of their condition. But even these souls in denial are aware that there
is another stage of the afterlife awaiting them outside the bardo. But who knows what it
involves—perhaps a final judgment, maybe reincarnation, or total annihilation? Our
various narrators are drawn from the ranks of those who remain behind in this intermediate
zone, unwilling to move onward, whether out of fear or denial. Yet staying behind comes
with some downsides: these ghosts must periodically return to their deteriorating physical
bodies and are limited in their ability to move outside the precincts of the cemetery.
In an intriguing twist, Abraham Lincoln holds the key to liberating these souls in the bardo,
just as he freed the slaves in actual American history. He remains the Great Emancipator
even in the context of this eccentric ghost story.
But here’s where it gets stranger. The Lincoln in this bardo isn’t the famous president, but
rather his son. This is where our historical sources fill in the gaps. Willie Lincoln died at
age eleven of typhoid fever, shortly after the start of the Civil War. President Lincoln was
so overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his son that he made several visits to the crypt
after the funeral in order to hold the dead lad’s body. When Saunders learned about
these emotionally-charged interactions between the most powerful man in the United
States and a lifeless corpse, he saw the potential for a very different kind of historical novel.
This book has nothing in common with, say, Gone With the Wind or The Red Badge of
Courage. Perhaps the closest counterpart to Lincoln in the Bardo is Toni Morrison’s
Beloved, another work of fiction set during the mid-nineteenth century that merges a
ghost story with a charged account of the tumult and sufferings of American life at a
decisive juncture in history.
But unlike Morrison’s book, Lincoln in the Bardo is
unabashedly postmodern, constructed out of fragments
and citations. Saunders’ book consists of 108 brief
chapters, and most of the chapters juxtapose different
narrative voices. At times, the experience of reading
this book resembles paging through a notebook or journal
filled with isolated self-contained paragraphs. Eventually
a series of stories emerge, both about President Lincoln
and his son, as well as the various spirits lingering on the
premises of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.
Abraham Lincoln’s visits to this cemetery set off a series
of crises and conflicts among the bardo community. The
focal point of the story is Willie Lincoln’s uncertainty as he
counterbalances his desire to stay around in close proximity to his father, or go on to
the next stage in the mysterious cycle of the afterlife. But other characters are faced with
similar decisions and beset with mixed emotions. Saunders artfully shows how the
President manages to resolve these unseen problems even as he deals with his own
mourning and melancholy disposition.
I admire this novel, but must express intense dissatisfaction with a literary establishment
that refuses to acknowledge that this book is, at its heart, a work of supernatural fiction.
How can Lincoln in the Bardo win the prestigious Man Booker Prize, yet not even get
considered for the Hugo Award? Why wasn’t Saunders’ work nominated for the World
Fantasy Award? How could it fail to get mentioned as a contender for the Bram Stoker
Award—a prize that’s even named after an author who made his reputation via a novel
that deals with a similar intermediate zone between life and death? I can understand, at
least to some degree, the marketing-driven decisions of publishers, but the people voting
on these awards should know better. Do they really want to exclude books from
consideration merely because they are bold and well written, and not stuffed to the brim
with genre formulas?
Perhaps we should acknowledge that books can also exist in strange intermediate zones.
But those literary ghetto exists only because of biases among the people who make
these peculiar distinctions and inexcusably bad decisions. I’d like to see that bardo
eliminated, its gates torn asunder by another great emancipator, perhaps one wielding
a pen. But I fear it will outlive all of us.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. He is the author of ten books. His most
recent book is How to Listen to Jazz (Basic Books).
Publication date: March 26, 2018
remade as the hero of a Steven Spielberg movie, a rare honor which puts him up in the
stratosphere alongside Indiana Jones and E.T. Around that same time, another film featured
the exploits of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter—perhaps the strangest cinematic depiction
of a US President in the history of Hollywood. Not to be outdone, the TV series Parks and
Recreation followed up with an episode featuring a stripper, dressed as 16th president,
who exercises a very different kind of executive privilege at a bachelorette party.
Talk about versatility!
Yet for sheer conceptual daring, it would be hard to top
Lincoln in the Bardo, the Man Booker Prize-winning 2017
novel by George Saunders. Much like the vampire-hunting
Lincoln, the protagonist of this book is intent on dispatching
the undead on their journey to the hereafter. But the odd quirk
to Saunders’ novel is the author's commitment to historical
accuracy even while he embraces the most fanciful aspects
of the supernatural.
In fact, roughly a quarter of this book is presented in the form
of direct quotes from memoirs and scholarly works about the
Civil War era. Not all of the extracts are real, but these
passages still manage to convey a sense of scrupulous
verisimilitude. But the rest of the book is presented through
the shifting perspectives of more than a dozen ghost narrators.
They reside in the bardo—a term from Tibetan Buddhism
that refers to an intermediate zone between life and death. Saunders refuses to provide
much theological background here, and the readers are allowed (or perhaps forced) to
assign their own metaphysical interpretations to the unfolding incidents.
In fact, even the ghosts here aren’t sure where they are or what they’re doing. They prefer
to believe—or at least pretend—that they aren’t really dead, just sick. Coffins, for example,
are described as sick boxes, and a host of other circumlocutions are employed to avoid
confronting the truth of their condition. But even these souls in denial are aware that there
is another stage of the afterlife awaiting them outside the bardo. But who knows what it
involves—perhaps a final judgment, maybe reincarnation, or total annihilation? Our
various narrators are drawn from the ranks of those who remain behind in this intermediate
zone, unwilling to move onward, whether out of fear or denial. Yet staying behind comes
with some downsides: these ghosts must periodically return to their deteriorating physical
bodies and are limited in their ability to move outside the precincts of the cemetery.
In an intriguing twist, Abraham Lincoln holds the key to liberating these souls in the bardo,
just as he freed the slaves in actual American history. He remains the Great Emancipator
even in the context of this eccentric ghost story.
But here’s where it gets stranger. The Lincoln in this bardo isn’t the famous president, but
rather his son. This is where our historical sources fill in the gaps. Willie Lincoln died at
age eleven of typhoid fever, shortly after the start of the Civil War. President Lincoln was
so overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his son that he made several visits to the crypt
after the funeral in order to hold the dead lad’s body. When Saunders learned about
these emotionally-charged interactions between the most powerful man in the United
States and a lifeless corpse, he saw the potential for a very different kind of historical novel.
This book has nothing in common with, say, Gone With the Wind or The Red Badge of
Courage. Perhaps the closest counterpart to Lincoln in the Bardo is Toni Morrison’s
Beloved, another work of fiction set during the mid-nineteenth century that merges a
ghost story with a charged account of the tumult and sufferings of American life at a
decisive juncture in history.
But unlike Morrison’s book, Lincoln in the Bardo is
unabashedly postmodern, constructed out of fragments
and citations. Saunders’ book consists of 108 brief
chapters, and most of the chapters juxtapose different
narrative voices. At times, the experience of reading
this book resembles paging through a notebook or journal
filled with isolated self-contained paragraphs. Eventually
a series of stories emerge, both about President Lincoln
and his son, as well as the various spirits lingering on the
premises of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.
Abraham Lincoln’s visits to this cemetery set off a series
of crises and conflicts among the bardo community. The
focal point of the story is Willie Lincoln’s uncertainty as he
counterbalances his desire to stay around in close proximity to his father, or go on to
the next stage in the mysterious cycle of the afterlife. But other characters are faced with
similar decisions and beset with mixed emotions. Saunders artfully shows how the
President manages to resolve these unseen problems even as he deals with his own
mourning and melancholy disposition.
I admire this novel, but must express intense dissatisfaction with a literary establishment
that refuses to acknowledge that this book is, at its heart, a work of supernatural fiction.
How can Lincoln in the Bardo win the prestigious Man Booker Prize, yet not even get
considered for the Hugo Award? Why wasn’t Saunders’ work nominated for the World
Fantasy Award? How could it fail to get mentioned as a contender for the Bram Stoker
Award—a prize that’s even named after an author who made his reputation via a novel
that deals with a similar intermediate zone between life and death? I can understand, at
least to some degree, the marketing-driven decisions of publishers, but the people voting
on these awards should know better. Do they really want to exclude books from
consideration merely because they are bold and well written, and not stuffed to the brim
with genre formulas?
Perhaps we should acknowledge that books can also exist in strange intermediate zones.
But those literary ghetto exists only because of biases among the people who make
these peculiar distinctions and inexcusably bad decisions. I’d like to see that bardo
eliminated, its gates torn asunder by another great emancipator, perhaps one wielding
a pen. But I fear it will outlive all of us.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. He is the author of ten books. His most
recent book is How to Listen to Jazz (Basic Books).
Publication date: March 26, 2018
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| Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders |
Essay by Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia is publishing essays on his
50 favorite works of non-realist fiction
released since 2000. Featured books
will include works of magical realism,
alternative history, sci-fi, horror, and
fantasy, as well as mainstream literary
fiction that pushes boundaries and
challenges conventional notions of
verisimilitude.
Click here for the other titles
50 favorite works of non-realist fiction
released since 2000. Featured books
will include works of magical realism,
alternative history, sci-fi, horror, and
fantasy, as well as mainstream literary
fiction that pushes boundaries and
challenges conventional notions of
verisimilitude.
Click here for the other titles
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Blind Assassin
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Bacigalupi, Paolo
The Windup Girl
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barker, Clive
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bierce, Ambrose
The Complete Short Stories
Blackwood, Algernon
The Complete John Silence Stories
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Brooks, Max
World War Z
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Butler, Octavia E.
Fledgling
Campbell, Ramsey
Demons by Daylight
Campbell, Ramsey
The Nameless
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chambers, Robert W.
The King in Yellow
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Cline, Ernest
Ready Player One
Crichton, Michael
Jurassic Park
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas Carol
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Egan, Jennifer
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fowles, John
A Maggot
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gardner, John
Grendel
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haig, Matt
The Humans
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Hendrix, Grady
Horrorstör
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Joe Hill
Heart-Shaped Box
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Never Let Me Go
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
James, Henry
The Turn of the Screw
James, M.R.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Ketchum, Jack
Off Season
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
King, Stephen
Pet Sematary
Koja, Kathe
The Cipher
Krilanovich, Grace
The Orange Eats Creeps
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Our Lady of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lindqvist, John Ajvide
Let the Right One In
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
Machen, Arthur
The Great God Pan
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
I Am Legend
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Embassytown
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morris, Jan
Hav
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
North, Claire
The First 15 Lives of Harry August
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Oyeyemi, Helen
White is for Witching
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Rice, Anne
Interview with the Vampire
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Roth, Philip
The Plot Against America
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Clark Ashton
The Dark Eidolon
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Straub, Peter
Ghost Story
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Tryon, Thomas
The Other
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vollmann, William T
Last Stories and Other Stories
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wallace, Edgar
King Kong
Walpole, Horace
The Castle of Otranto
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Weir, Andy
The Martian
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Wong, David
John Dies at the End
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Yamada, Taichi
Strangers
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
My Year of Horrible Reading
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
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Fractious Fiction
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Blind Assassin
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Bacigalupi, Paolo
The Windup Girl
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barker, Clive
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bierce, Ambrose
The Complete Short Stories
Blackwood, Algernon
The Complete John Silence Stories
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Brooks, Max
World War Z
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Butler, Octavia E.
Fledgling
Campbell, Ramsey
Demons by Daylight
Campbell, Ramsey
The Nameless
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chambers, Robert W.
The King in Yellow
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Cline, Ernest
Ready Player One
Crichton, Michael
Jurassic Park
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas Carol
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Egan, Jennifer
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fowles, John
A Maggot
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gardner, John
Grendel
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haig, Matt
The Humans
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
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The Centauri Device
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Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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Stranger in a Strange Land
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Time Enough for Love
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Winter's Tale
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Horrorstör
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Dune
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Heart-Shaped Box
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The Woman in Black
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Submission
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Brave New World
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Never Let Me Go
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Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
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Off Season
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Flowers for Algernon
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Carrie
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Pet Sematary
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The Cipher
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The Orange Eats Creeps
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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
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Gods Without Men
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Nine Hundred Grandmothers
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The Big Time
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Conjure Wife
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The Wanderer
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The Fortress of Solitude
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Rosemary's Baby
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Magic for Beginners
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What Dreams May Come
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Miéville, China
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
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Cloud Atlas
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Ringworld
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Vurt
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At Swim-Two-Birds
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White is for Witching
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Love in the Ruins
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Tales of Mystery & Imagination
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Gateway
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Interview with the Vampire
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Red Mars
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The Plot Against America
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The Female Man
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Blindness
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Store of the Worlds
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Frankenstein
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City
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Snow Crash
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More Than Human
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Some of Your Blood
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Around the Moon
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John Dies at the End
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Lord of Light
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How can Lincoln in the Bardo
win the prestigious Man Booker
Prize, yet not even get
considered for the Hugo
Award? Why wasn’t Saunders’
work nominated for the World
Fantasy Award? How could it
fail to get mentioned as a contender
for the Bram Stoker Award?
win the prestigious Man Booker
Prize, yet not even get
considered for the Hugo
Award? Why wasn’t Saunders’
work nominated for the World
Fantasy Award? How could it
fail to get mentioned as a contender
for the Bram Stoker Award?