A Political History of SF

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

It wasn't exactly tedious.  I thought there were some very decent bits in it.  I also probably missed a lot - I have learned a lot about reading in the last 18 months on the p-list.

Some parts I liked: entering & leaving the city.
The part where he's talking to a psychiatrist, who says what most parents are trying to get when they bring their kid in, is permission to beat the kid.
The part where he relates to an older writer was nice.

The gay sex stuff in Dhalgren left me cold, but then I'm not gay...didn't seem to be a whole lot of human interest in the intercourse either, though...
And the whole thing is so damn bleak - no love anywhere, it felt like.  But then I don't like Beckett for the same reason, and apparently I'm missing a whole lot of great craftspersonship.  

However, Stars in My Pocket was a lot more fun to read.  I could relate to the gay sex because there was an element of love; the settings were more SF than dystopian fantasy (although certainly not utopian); even the digressions were more interesting (actually fascinating).
I was thinking when I hit the last page that there would certainly be a sequel, but I'm not aware of one.  

Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones -- I guess I'm not the only person who loved that: 
wikipedia sez of his short story collections
(Driftglass and Distant Stars include the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones." Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories is a compilation of all of Delany's short fiction, excepting the Nevèrÿon tales and the tales from Atlantis.)