Slusser, George
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Critic, Editor.
(1939-2014) US academic, translator and critic, with a PhD in literature from Harvard, who also published as George Edgar Slusser and as George E Slusser. He was Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Riverside, and Curator Emeritus of the J Lloyd Eaton Collection there; he was also Director of the Eaton Program for Science Fiction and Fantasy Studies, which is devoted to research. Slusser wrote and edited a number of critical books on sf, and also translated sf-related works by Honoré de Balzac and J-H Rosny aîné.
His critical books, all but the last from Borgo Press, are Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in His Own Land (1976 chap; rev 1977), The Farthest Shores of Ursula K. Le Guin (1976 chap), The Bradbury Chronicles (1977 chap), Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (1977 chap), The Delany Intersection (1977 chap), The Classic Years of Robert A. Heinlein (1977 chap), The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke (1978 chap) and Gregory Benford (2014).
Slusser edited many anthologies of critical essays, most collecting papers delivered at the annual Eaton Conference on fantasy and sf and generally edited collaboratively with other academics involved in the Conference. The Eaton Conference Papers anthology sequence begins with Bridges to Science Fiction (anth 1980) edited with George Robert Guffey and Mark Rose, Bridges to Fantasy (anth 1982) edited with Eric Rabkin and Robert Scholes and Coordinates: Placing Science Fiction and Fantasy (anth 1983) edited with Rabkin and Scholes [for further titles see Checklist below]. By academic standards, at least, Slusser was a controversialist. On receiving the Pilgrim Award for services to sf criticism and scholarship in 1986, he argued that "we need to get sf out of the English department" into comparative literature, interdisciplinary studies or even as "a discipline in itself". [PN]
see also: Anthropology; Cinema; Critical and Historical Works About SF.
George Edgar Slusser
born San Francisco, California: 14 July 1939
died Highland, California: 4 November 2014
works
- Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in his Own Land (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1976) [nonfiction: chap: pb/]
- Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in his Own Land (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1977) [nonfiction: chap: rev of the above: pb/]
- The Farthest Shores of Ursula K. Le Guin (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1976) [nonfiction: chap: Robert A Heinlein: pb/]
- The Bradbury Chronicles (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1977) [nonfiction: chap: Ray Bradbury: hb/nonpictorial]
- The Delany Intersection: Samuel R. Delany Considered as a Writer of Semi-Precious Words (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1977) [nonfiction: chap: Samuel R Delany: pb/Judy Cloyd]
- Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1977) [nonfiction: chap: Harlan Ellison: pb/]
- The Classic Years of Robert A. Heinlein (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1977) [nonfiction: chap: Robert A Heinlein: pb/nonpictorial]
- The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1978) [nonfiction: chap: Arthur C Clarke: pb/Judy Cloyd]
- Gregory Benford (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2014) [nonfiction: Gregory Benford: in the publisher's Modern Masters of Science Fiction series: pb/Percolator and University of California-Irvine: hb/nonpictorial]
- Science Fiction: Toward a World Literature (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2022) [nonfiction: edited by Gary Westfahl with foreword by N Katherine Hayles and afterword by Gregory Benford: hb/nonpictorial]
works as editor
series
Eaton Conference Papers
- Bridges to Science Fiction (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1980) with George Robert Guffey and Mark Rose [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/Gary Gore]
- Bridges to Fantasy (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982) with Eric S Rabkin and Robert Scholes [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Coordinates: Placing Science Fiction and Fantasy (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983) with Eric S Rabkin and Robert Scholes [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Shadows of the Magic Lamp: Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1985) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Hard Science Fiction (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Storm Warnings: Science Fiction Confronts the Future (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987) with Colin Greenland and Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Intersections: Fantasy and Science Fiction (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Mindscapes: The Geographies of Imagined Worlds (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Styles of Creation: Aesthetic Technique and the Creation of Fictional Worlds (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1993) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Immortality: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Fights of Fancy: Armed Conflict in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1993) with Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: War: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Immortal Engines: Life Extension and Immortality in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996) with Eric S Rabkin and Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Immortality: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/Jerry Uelsmann]
- Science Fiction and Market Realities (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996) with Eric S Rabkin and Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/Jerry Uelsmann]
- Foods of the Gods: Eating and the Eaten in Fantasy and Science Fiction (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996) with Eric S Rabkin and Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/]
- Nursery Realms: Children in the Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1999) with Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Children in SF: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/Erin Kirk New]
- Science Fiction, Canonization, Marginalization, and the Academy (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002) with Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/nonpictorial]
- Unearthly Visions: Approaches to Science Fiction and Fantasy Art (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002) with Kathleen Church Plummer and Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/nonpictorial]
- No Cure for the Future: Disease and Medicine in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002) with Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Medicine: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/nonpictorial]
- Worlds Enough and Time: Explorations of Time in Science Fiction and Fantasy (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002) with David Leiby and Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Time: Eaton Conference Papers: hb/nonpictorial]
- Science Fiction and the Two Cultures: Essays on Bridging the Gap between the Sciences and the Humanities (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Publishers, 2009) with Gary Westfahl [nonfiction: anth: Eaton Conference Papers: pb/from Leonardo Da Vinci]
- Visions of Mars: Essays on the Red Planet in Fiction and Science (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2011) with Howard V Hendrix and Eric S Rabkin [nonfiction: anth: Mars: Eaton Conference Papers: pb/Frank Schoonover]
individual titles as editor
- Fiction 2000: Cyberpunk and the Future of Narrative (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1992) with Tom Shippey [nonfiction: anth: Cyberpunk: hb/Larry Webb]
- The Fantastic Other: An Interface of Perspectives (Amsterdam, Holland: Rodopi, 1998) with Brett Cooke and Jaume Marti-Olivella [nonfiction: anth: hb/]
- Transformations of Utopia: Changing Views of the Perfect Society (New York: AMS Press, 1999) with Paul K Alkon and Roger Gaillard [nonfiction: anth: Utopias: hb/]
- H. G. Wells's Perennial Time Machine (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2001) with Patrick Parrinder and Daniè Chatelain [nonfiction: anth: Time Travel: hb/]
- Genre at the Crossroads: The Challenge of Fantasy (Pennsylvania: Xenos Books, 2003) with Jean-Pierre Barricelli (1924-1997) [nonfiction: anth: pb/]
works as translator
- Honoré de Balzac. The Centenarian; or The Two Behringelds (New York: Arno Press, 1976) [trans of Le Centenaire; ou les Deux Behringeld (1822) by Balzac writing as Horace de Saint-Aubin: hb/nonpictorial]
- Honoré de Balzac. The Centenarian, or, The Two Beringhelds (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2005) [revised trans with Danièle Chatelain of the above translation of Le Centenaire; ou les Deux Behringeld (1822) by Balzac writing as Horace de Saint-Aubin: hb/]
- J-H Rosny aîné. The Xipehuz and The Death of the Earth (New York: Arno Press, 1978) [omni: loose trans of Les Xipéhuz (in L'Immolation ["The Sacrifice"] coll 1887; 1888) and La mort de la terre (May-July 1910 Annales littéraires et politiques; title story of coll 1910): hb/]
- J-H Rosny aîné. Three Science Fiction Novellas: From Prehistory to the End of Mankind (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2012) [trans by Danièle Chatelaîn and Slusser of the above plus title story of Un autre monde (coll 1898): hb/Malendra Singh]
- J-H Rosny aîné. Three Science Fiction Novellas: From Prehistory to the End of Mankind (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2012) [revised trans by Danièle Chatelaîn and Slusser of the above, plus title story of Un autre monde (coll 1898): hb/Malendra Singh]
- Jules Verne. A Priest in 1835 (Albany, Georgia: BearManor Fiction, 2016) [trans with Danièle Chatelain of Un Prêtre en 1839 (1992): edited by Brian Taves: hb/]
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