The Mechanics of Wonder The Creation of the Idea of Science Fiction

In his "true history of science fiction," Westfahl (U. of California- Riverside), columnist for Interzone magazine and author of several books on this genre, makes a case for Hugo Gernsback's Ralph 124C 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660 (1925) as being the science fiction novel that launched the genre. The author also evaluates the importance of John W. Campbell's theories, and critiques Heinlein's Beyond the Horizon. Name index only. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR