Book description
Samuel R. Delany's The Jewel-Hinged Jaw appeared originally in 1977,
and is now long out of print and hard to find. The impact of its
demonstration that science fiction was a special language, rather than
just gadgets and green-skinned aliens, began reverberations still felt
in science fiction criticism. This edition includes two new essays, one
written at the time and one written about those times, as well as an
introduction by writer and teacher Matthew Cheney, placing Delany's work
in historical context. Close textual analyses of Thomas M. Disch, Ursula
K. Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, and Joanna Russ read as brilliantly today as
when they first appeared. Essays such as "About 5,750 Words"
and "To Read The Dispossessed" first made the book a classic;
they assure it will remain one. "Delany's first work of
non-fiction, The Jewel Hinged Jaw: Notes on the Language of Science
Fiction, remains a benchmark of sf criticism thirty-three years after
its initial publication in 1977. ... Extensively revised and reissued in
2009, JHJ has become even sronger, containing twelve essays in ten
chapters and two appendixes."--Isiah Lavender, Science Fiction
Studies Winner of both Hugo and Nebula awards, SAMUEL R. DELANY is a
novelist and critic, who currently teaches English and creative writing
at Temple University. His critical work has won him the Pilgrim Award
for science fiction scholarship. MATTHEW CHENEY is a columnist for
Strange Horizons and writes regularly about many topics at his weblog,
The Mumpsimus.
