No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction

by Eric S. Rabkin (Editor), Joseph D. Olander (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

Writers have created fictions of social per­fection at least since Plato's Republic. Sir Thomas More gave this thread of intel­lectual history a name when he called his contribution to it Utopia, Greek for no place.

With each subsequent author cog­nizant of his predecessors and subject to altered real-world conditions which sug­gest ever-new causes for hope and alarm, "no place" changed. The fourteen essays presented in this book critically assess man's fascination with and seeking for "no place."

"In discussing these central fictions, the contributors see 'no place' from di­verse perspectives: the sociological, the psychological, the political, the aesthetic. In revealing the roots of these works, the contributors cast back along the whole length of utopian thought. Each essay stands alone; together, the essays make clear what ‘no place’ means today. While it may be true that ‘no place’ has always seemed elsewhere or elsewhen, in fact all utopian fiction whirls contemporary ac­tors through a costume dance no place else but here." —from the Preface

 

The contributors are Eric S. Rabkin, B. G. Knepper, Thomas J. Remington, Gorman Beauchamp, William Matter, Ken Davis, Kenneth M. Roemer, Wil­liam Steinhoff, Howard Segal, Jack Zipes, Kathleen Woodward, Merritt Abrash, and James W. Bittner.

Genres: Science Fiction, Utopia

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 1983

Reviews

[Ashley Marilynne Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1983, No Place Else is a comprehensive volume of critical essays on the best utopian and dystopian novels ever written. The book is perfect for scholars and researchers of the dystopian and utopian genres and I believe that those who love engaging in literary discussions in general may greatly benefit from it as well.

[Angel Walker-Werth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most essay collections, some essays were better than others. The best had insights and ways of looking at Utopian/dystopian stories I'd never thought of before. Most were quite readable, most really seemed to be aiming to get the most our of the stories they were discussing. there were some odd, not fully supported takes in a few essays though

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stuff in this one. Within the book are some really easy-to-read commentaries on all of the most famous utopias and dystopias: Yevgeny Zamyatin's 'We,' Orwell's '1984,' Skinner's 'Walden Two,' Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451,' and Huxley's 'Brave New World.' Within each commentary you'll discover the influences for every novel along with the historical context. This is essential reading for the 'Dystopia-Utopia-Obsessed' crowd. Very likely you can find the PDF version online for free.