Michael Bishop and the Persistence of Wonder

Since they began appearing in the 1970s, Michael Bishop’s science fiction and fantasy stories have been recognized for their polished prose and their depth of thought and feeling. His award-winning fiction includes No Enemy but Time (1982), Unicorn Mountain (1988), Brittle Innings (1994) and the outstanding short story “The Pile” (2008). After the 2017 publication of his collection Other Arms Reach Out to Me, Bishop was inducted into the Georgia Writers’ Hall of Fame. Revision and republication of much of Bishop’s fiction in recent years have renewed interest in Bishop’s explorations of religion, belief and the pursuit of human truth.
This book is the first comprehensive study of Michael Bishop’s literary body, examining his work in full. Featured are close readings of all his novels and studies of short stories, poetry and essays that Bishop himself identified for special attention.

The late Joe Sanders, professor emeritus, Lakeland Community College, wrote extensively about Roger Zelazny, E.E. “Doc” Smith, and Neil Gaiman. He lived in Willoughby, Ohio.

Joe Sanders. Series Editors Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III
Foreword by Paul Di Filippo
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 202
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7151-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4057-0
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Foreword: The ­No-Showboatin’ Sage of Pine Mountain, ­Gee-Ay (Paul Di Filippo) 1
Preface 5
Part I—Exploring Strange Worlds 9
1. The Perilous Discovery of Empathy: Short Fiction, 1970–1980 11
2. Outside/In & Inside/Out: Novels, 1975–1980 34
Part II—Discovering Stranger Worlds Next Door 71
3. Surreal Estates: Short Fiction, 1981–1994 72
4. Family Reunions: Novels, 1982–1994 87
Part III—Settling In 151
5. Later Fiction: Darkness, Wonder and Grace 152
Other Works 181
A Final Q & A 183
Works Cited 187
Index 191

• “Almost certainly the most informed and enlightening study we are likely to see of an author whose work deserves a good deal more scholarly attention that it has thus far received. Let us hope that this clearly written and deeply thoughtful study can help get that discussion going.”—Science Fiction Studies

• “A comprehensive study of the work of science fiction novelist Michael Bishop… he’s staunchly thorough and convincingly extracts a worldview from the wide breadth of Bishop’s body of work… Sanders combines scholarly rigor with a crisp layman’s voice—Bishop’s fans are in for a treat.”—Publishers Weekly

• “A thorough discussion of Bishop’s novels and major short stories… Fascinating insights… This is a consistently stimulating and ground-breaking study.”—Locus