Joanna Russ

"In 1959, at the age of 22, Joanna Russ published her first science fiction story, "Nor Custom Stale," in The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. In the years since, Russ has continued to write some popular, creative, and important novels and stories in science fiction. She was a central figure, along with contemporaries Ursula K. Le Guin and James Tiptree, in revolutionizing science fiction in the 1960s and 1970s. The Country You Have Never Seen gathers Joanna Russ's most important essays and reviews, revealing the vital part she played over the years in the never-ending conversation among writers and fans about the roles, boundaries, and potential of science fiction. Spanning her entire career, the collection shines a light on Russ's role in the growth of new wave science fiction and feminist science fiction, while at the same time providing fascinating insights into her own development as a writer."--Jacket.

Living in an altered past that never saw the end of the Great Depression, Jeannine, a librarian, is waiting to be married. Joanna lives in a different version of reality: she's a 1970s feminist trying to succeed in a man's world. Janet is from Whileaway, a utopian earth where only women exist. And Jael is a warrior with steel teeth and catlike retractable claws, from an earth with separate-and warring-female and male societies. When these four women meet, the results are startling, outrageous, and subversive.

xx, 476 p. ; 22 cm

From the back cover: Joanna Russ has written -- as novelist, short-story writer, and critic -- on science fiction, fantasy, and feminism. These essays reflect the breadth of Russ's critical work, and consider a wide range of topics, including the aesthetic of science fiction; the lesbian identity of Willa Cather, revealed in her writing; horror stories and the supernatural; feminist utopias; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the "mother" of science fiction; popular literature for women (the "Modern Gothic"); the hidden dimension of popular culture's fascination with "technology"; and the feminist education of graduate students in English. Russ also addresses theorists and critics of literature -- as they examine her own work and the work of other writers.

pt. 1. The color of evil. The reach / Stephen King -- Evening primrose / John Collier -- The ash-tree / M.R. James -- The new mother / Lucy Clifford -- There's a long, long trail a-winding / Russell Kirk -- The call of Cthulhu / H.P. Lovecraft -- The summer people / Shirley Jackson -- The whimper of whipped dogs / Harlan Ellison -- [Young Goodman Brown]( / Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Mr. Justice Harbottle -- J. Sheridan Le Fanu -- The crowd / Ray Bradbury -- The autopsy / Michael Shea -- John Charrington's wedding / E. Nesbit -- Sticks / Karl Edward Wagner -- Larger than oneself / Robert Aickman -- Belsen Express / Fritz Leiber -- Yours truly, Jack the Ripper / Robert Bloch -- If Damon comes / Charles L. Grant -- Vandy, Vandy / Manly Wade Wellman -- pt. 2. The Medusa in the shield. The swords / Robert Aickman -- The roaches / Thomas M. Disch -- Bright segment / Theodore Sturgeon -- Dread / Clive Barker -- The fall of the house of Usher / Edgar Allan Poe -- The monkey / Stephen King -- Within the walls of Tyre / Michael Bishop -- The rats in the walls / H.P. Lovecraft -- Schalken the painter / J. Sheridan Le Fanu -- The yellow wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- A rose for Emily / William Faulkner -- How love came to Professor Guildea / Robert Hichens -- Born of man and woman / Richard Matheson -- My dear Emily / Joanna Russ -- You can go now / Dennis Etchison -- The rocking-horse winner / D.H. Lawrence -- Three days / Tanith Lee -- Good country people / Flannery O'Connor -- Mackintosh Willy / Ramsey Campbell -- The jolly corner / Henry James -- pt. 3. A fabulous formless darkness. Smoke ghost / Fritz Leiber -- Seven American nights / Gene Wolfe -- The signal-man / Charles Dickens -- [Crouch End]( / Stephen King -- Night-side / Joyce Carol Oates -- Seaton's aunt / Walter de la Mare -- Clara Militch / Ivan Turgenev -- The repairer of reputations / Robert W. Chambers -- The beckoning fair one / Oliver Onions -- What was it? / Fitz-James O'Brien -- The beautiful stranger / Shirley Jackson -- [The damned thing]( / Ambrose Bierce -- Afterward / Edith Wharton -- The willows / Algernon Blackwood -- The Asian shore / Thomas M. Disch -- The hospice / Robert Aickman -- A little something for us tempunauts / Philip K. Dick.

A woman warrior, a sleeping beauty, a baby satyr, and a mermaid encourage a young girl into accepting free womanhood.

They were enslaved in a place where lust knew no bounds-and only love was forbidden... They were two white slaves thrown together in the darkness of the breeding hut. She, Alyx de Vere, a virginal, sixteen-year-old beauty carried off to nightmare captivity on a Caribbean sugar plantation. He, Simon, handsome, young, once heir to a noble title. He felt no desire for this anonymous woman who was forced upon him. And she knew only fearful hatred for this stranger who was about to violate her youthful innocence. But as night after night of tremulous, fevered mating passed, something forbidden grew between these two desire-damned lovers-a rapturous passion that drove them to dare any peril to free each other from this savage world of bondage and brutal submission. And it was then that Alyx and Simon swore that no power-even death itself-would ever overcome their eternal bond of flaming, all-conquering love...

A collection of original science fiction stories by such noted authors as Ray Bradbury, Ben Bova, and Kurt Vonnegut.

A loint of paw / Isaac Asimov -- The advent on Channel Twelve / C.M. Kornbluth -- Plaything / Larry Niven -- The misfortune cookie / Charles E. Fritch -- I wish I may, I wish I might / Bill Pronzini -- FTA / George R.R. Martin -- Trace / Jerome Bixby -- The ingenious patriot / Ambrose Bierce -- Zoo / Edward D. Hoch -- The destiny of Milton Gomrath / Alexei Panshin -- The devil and the trombone / Martin Gardner -- Upstart / Steven Utley -- How it all went / Gregory Benford -- Harry Protagonist, brain-drainer / Richard Wilson -- Peeping Tommy / Robert F. Young -- Starting from scratch / Robert Sheckley -- Corrida / Roger Zelazny -- Shall the dust praise thee? / Damon Knight -- Bug-getter / R. Bretnor -- The deadly mission of Phineas Snodgrass / Frederik Pohl -- Fire sale / Laurence M. Janifer -- Safe at any speed / Larry Niven -- The masks / James Blish -- Innocence / Joanna Russ -- Kin / Richard Wilson -- The long night / Ray Russell -- Sanity clause / Edward Wellen -- If at first you don't succeed, to hell with it! / Charles E. Fritch -- The question / Laurence M. Janifer and Donald E. Westlake -- The perfect woman / Robert Sheckley -- The system / Ben Bova -- Exile to hell / Isaac Asimov -- Inaugural / Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini -- Martha / Fred Saberhagen -- Kindergarten / Fritz Leiber -- Landscape with sphinxes / Karen Anderson -- The happiest day of your life / Bob Shaw -- The worlds of Monty Willson / William F. Nolan -- Punch / Frederik Pohl -- Doctor / Henry Slesar -- The man from when / Dannie Plachta -- Crying willow / Edward Rager -- January 1975 / Barry N. Malzberg -- Mail supremacy / Hayford Peirce -- Mistake / Larry Niven -- Half-baked publisher's delight / Jeffrey S. Hudson and Issac Asimov -- Far from home / Walter S. Tevis Swords of Ifthan / James Sutherland -- Argent blood / Joe L. Hensley -- Collector's fever / Roger Zelazny -- Sign at the end of the universe / Duane Ackerson -- Stubborn / Stephen Goldin -- The re-creation / Robert E. Toomey, Jr. -- The better man / Ray Russell -- Oom / Martin Gardner -- Merchant / Henry Slesar -- Don't fence me in / Richard Wilson -- The die-hard / Alfred Bester -- The first / Anthony Boucher -- Eripmav / Damon Knight -- Feeding time / Robert Sheckley -- The voice from the curious cube / Nelson Bond -- I'm going to get you / F.M. Busby -- The room / Ray Russell -- Dry spell / Bill Pronzini -- Bohassian learns / William Rotsler -- Star bride / Anthony Boucher -- Latest feature / Maggie Nadler -- Chief / Henry Slesar -- After you've stood on the log at the centre of the universe, what is there left to do? / Grant Carrington -- Maid to measure / Damon Knight -- Eyes do more than see / Isaac Asimov -- Thang / Martin Gardner -- How now purple cow / Bill Pronzini -- Revival meeting / Dannie Plachta -- Prototaph / Keith Laumer -- The rocket of 1955 / C.M. Kornbluth -- Science fiction for telepaths / E. Michael Blake -- Kindergarten / James E. Gunn -- A little knowledge / Paul Dellinger -- A cup of hemlock / Lee Killough -- Present perfect / Thomas F. Monteleone -- A lot to learn / Robert T. Kurosaka -- The amphibious cavalry gap / James E. Thompson -- Not counting bridges / Robert L. Fish -- The man inside / Bruce McAllister -- The Mars stone / Paul Bond -- Source material / Mildred Downey Broxon -- The compleat consummators / Alan E. Nourse -- Examination day / Henry Slesar -- The sky's an oyster; the stars are pearls / Dave Bischoff -- The man who could turn back the clock / Ralph Milne Farley -- Patent rights / Daniel A. Darlington -- Alien cornucopia / Walt Liebscher -- The last paradox / Edward D. Hoch -- Course of empire / Richard Wilson -- Synchronicity / James E. Thompson -- Sweet dreams, Melissa / Stephen Goldin -- The man on top / R. Bretnor -- Rejection slip / K.W. MacAnn.

The Last Answer - short story by Isaac Asimov Package Deal - short story by Donald Franson Lycanthrope - short story by Norm Hartman [as by Norman E. Hartman] Gemini 74 - short story by Jack Ritchie Geever's Flight - short story by Charles E. Fritch Lost and Found - short story by Phyllis Eisenstein Pattern - short story by Fredric Brown Discovering a New Earth - short story by Robert Mattingly Varieties of Technological Experience - short story by Barry N. Malzberg Listen, Love - short story by Jack Dann and George Zebrowski That Strain Again - short story by Charles Sheffield Take Me to Your Leader - short story by George H. Smith [as by George Henry Smith] Put Your Head Upon My Knee - short story by Jack Ritchie The Big Fix - short story by Robert F. Decker Speed of the Cheetah, Roar of the Lion - short story by Harry Harrison Just Call Me Irish - short story by Richard Wilson Renaissance Man - short story by T. E. D. Klein Pulpworld - short story by Richard K. Lyon [as by R. K. Lyon] The Other Tiger - short story by Arthur C. Clarke Little William - short story by Patricia Matthews Steel - short story by Alan Brennert Appointment on the Barge - short story by Jack Ritchie And So On, and So On - short story by James Tiptree, Jr. Nellthu - short story by Anthony Boucher Taste of Battle - short story by Donald Franson Deflation 2001 - short story by Bob Shaw Do Androids Dream of Electric Love? - short story by Walt Liebscher Dog Star - short story by Mack Reynolds The Great Judge - short story by A. E. van Vogt 2001: A Love Story - short story by Paul Dellinger Answer - short story by Fredric Brown Hadj - short story by Harlan Ellison Good Morning! This Is the Future - short story by Henry Slesar A Shape in Time - short story by Anthony Boucher Linkage - short story by Barry N. Malzberg Murder in the Nth Degree - short story by Ron Montana [as by R. A. Montana] Useful Phrases for the Tourist - short story by Joanna Russ The Burning - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell One Small Step - short story by Marcia Martin and Eric Vinicoff Dead End - short story by Mack Reynolds Paths - short story by Edward Bryant Woman's Work - short story by Garen Drussaï? Death Double - short story by William F. Nolan Tag - short story by Helen M. Urban [as by Helen Urban] Nightmare in Time - short story by Fredric Brown (variant of The End 1961) The Nature of the Place - short story by Robert Silverberg True Love - short story by Isaac Asimov The Game of the Name - short story by Alice Laurance Down the Digestive Tract - short story by Robert Sheckley (variant of Down the Digestive Tract and Into the Cosmos with Mantra, Tantra, and Specklebang) Upon My Soul - short story by Jack Ritchie Drawing Board - short story by Charles A. Spano, Jr. Shell Shock - short story by Donald Franson Speak - short story by Henry Slesar Your Cruel Face - short story by Craig Strete The Best-Laid Plans... - short story by Rick Conley Devil to Pay - short story by Mack Reynolds Who Else Could I Count On? - short story by Manly Wade Wellman (variant of Who Else Could I Count On 1962) The Rat and the Snake - short story by A. E. van Vogt The Finest Hunter in the World - short story by Harry Harrison Life - short story by Dennis R. Caro Love Story - short story by Eric Frank Russell Exile in Lakehurst - short story by Robert Payes The Bait - short story by Fritz Leiber The Humanic Complex - short story by Ray Russell Friends? - short story by Roberta Ghidalia Take a Deep Breath - short story by Arthur C. Clarke The Quest of the Infidel - short story by Sherwood Springer Legal Rights for Germs? - short story by Joseph F. Patrouch, Jr. [as by Joe Patrouch] Blood - short story by Fredric Brown The Diana Syndrome - short story by Ron Montana [as by R. A. Montana] Emergency Rations - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell Buy Jupiter! - short story by Isaac Asimov The Old Man - short story by Henry Slesar Exile's Greeting - short story by Roland J. Green The Biography Project - short story by H. L. Gold [as by Dudley Dell] The Grapes of the Rath - short story by Jan Howard Finder Mr. Lupescu - short story by Anthony Boucher What I Did During My Park Vacation - short story by Ruth Berman A Fragment of Manuscript - short story by Harry Harrison The Boy with Five Fingers - short story by James E. Gunn [as by James Gunn] The King of Beasts - short story by Philip José Farmer (variant of The King of the Beasts) Displaced Person - short story by Eric Frank Russell A Clone at Last - short story by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini X Marks the Pedwalk - short story by Fritz Leiber The Mission - short story by Arthur Tofte Proof - short story by F. M. Busby Dreamworld - short story by Isaac Asimov The Reunion - short story by Paul J. Nahin The Futile Flight of John Arthur Benn - short story by Richard Wilson [as by Edward Halibut] Servants of the Lord - short story by James A. Stevens [as by James Stevens] Mattie Harris, Galactic Spy - short story by Rachel Cosgrove Payes Changeover - short story by Juleen Brantingham Hometown - short story by Richard Wilson The Penalty - short story by Henry Slesar The Pill - short story by Maggie Nadler The Final Battle - short story by Harry Harrison Earthbound - short story by Lester del Rey Rotating Cylinders and the Possibility of Global Causality Violation - short story by Larry Niven The Voice in the Garden - short story by Harlan Ellison If Eve Had Failed to Conceive - short story by Edward Wellen