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Description:
A Reverie for Mister Ray: Reflections on Life, Death, and Speculative Fiction features a rich selection (nearly 70 essays) from four decades of Michael Bishop's career as a dedicated practitioner and observer of the sf and fantasy fields.
It contains reviews, formal nods to his major influences (including Jonathan Swift and Theodore Sturgeon), a manifesto on reviewing, profiles of colleagues (from the venerable Ray Bradbury to the young Andy Duncan), state-of-the-art position papers (see 'Heretics and Believers' or 'Writing SF as If It Mattered'), humor (take a gander at 'Oh, to be a Blurber!' or 'Critics' Night at the Sci-Fi Bistro'), observations on paleontology (including his proposal for the Nebula Award-winning novel No Enemy But Time), a satirical uncollected short story ('The Contributors to Plenum Four'), detours into the works of mainstream fabulists like Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami, and revealing autobiography (from 'Military Brat: A Memoir' to the gonzo 'Nine Prescriptions for My Funeral').
Bishop ranges wide and far in this astonishing compendium, and he does so with unflinching, often self-critical honesty. With a colorful, digitally composed wraparound dustjacket by Jamie Bishop; a preface by editor and bibliographer Michael H. Hutchins; and an introduction by two-time World Fantasy Award-winning writer Jeff VanderMeer.
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