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Under Compulsion
Vintage paperback
170 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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About the author
Thomas M. Disch
379 books320 followersThomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction writer and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book—previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book"—in 1999. He had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, a Rhysling Award, and two Seiun Awards, among others.
His writing includes substantial periodical work, such as regular book and theater reviews for The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Harper's, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Entertainment Weekly.
As a fiction writer and a poet, Disch felt typecast by his science fiction roots. "I have a class theory of literature. I come from the wrong neighborhood to sell to The New Yorker. No matter how good I am as an artist, they always can smell where I come from".
Following an extended period of depression after the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, except for poetry and blog entries, although he did produce two novellas. Disch fatally shot himself on July 4, 2008, in his Manhatten (NYC) apartment.
Naylor and Disch are buried alongside each other at Saint Johns Episcopal Church Columbarium, Dubuque, Iowa. His last book, The Word of God, which was written shortly before Naylor died, was published a few days before Disch's death.
His writing includes substantial periodical work, such as regular book and theater reviews for The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Harper's, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, and Entertainment Weekly.
As a fiction writer and a poet, Disch felt typecast by his science fiction roots. "I have a class theory of literature. I come from the wrong neighborhood to sell to The New Yorker. No matter how good I am as an artist, they always can smell where I come from".
Following an extended period of depression after the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, except for poetry and blog entries, although he did produce two novellas. Disch fatally shot himself on July 4, 2008, in his Manhatten (NYC) apartment.
Naylor and Disch are buried alongside each other at Saint Johns Episcopal Church Columbarium, Dubuque, Iowa. His last book, The Word of God, which was written shortly before Naylor died, was published a few days before Disch's death.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2015
Pretty much a collection of seventeen short science fiction stories from a writer of whom I had never heard before. The stories were better than I expected and was worth the time spent in reading them.
October 16, 2008
some excellent stories here - especially the Casablanca one.
March 21, 2025
Like most short story collections this was a mixed bag, with a few good stories and some that were average or just forgettable. At his best, Disch is an excellent writer with few equals in the SF genre. Very pessmistic and literary.
"The Roaches" (hilarious and disgusting) "Descending" (a nightmare about an infinite stairwell) and "Casablanca" were all great. The latter is an unusual take on a nuclear apocalypse: an American couple on holiday in Morocco is stranded when the United States is basically wiped out overnight. What follows is dark and very realistic.
My favourite is the very short story "Fun With Your New Head" (which is also an alternative title for this collection in some editions). It is a story in the form of an advertisement promoting the new and improved "Head" (i.e. humans) as an entertaining toy for aliens. Unique, bizarre and disturbing.
"The Roaches" (hilarious and disgusting) "Descending" (a nightmare about an infinite stairwell) and "Casablanca" were all great. The latter is an unusual take on a nuclear apocalypse: an American couple on holiday in Morocco is stranded when the United States is basically wiped out overnight. What follows is dark and very realistic.
My favourite is the very short story "Fun With Your New Head" (which is also an alternative title for this collection in some editions). It is a story in the form of an advertisement promoting the new and improved "Head" (i.e. humans) as an entertaining toy for aliens. Unique, bizarre and disturbing.
November 26, 2022
I love this collection of strange, dark stories by Thomas Disch. A couple of the shorter stories feel like experiments that don't always work, but the best stories here more than make up for it. My favourites are Casablanca, where American tourists find their privilege evaporates in a cloud of smoke on holiday in Morocco, Come to Venus Melancholy, a tale of isolation, despair and human/cyborg gender relations, and 1-A, a brutal description of life in the army. The author describes the madness and despair of enforced solitude amazingly well, and that comes across in several of these stories. I believe this is more or less the same collection of stories as Fun with your New Head, perhaps with different edits but the same core collection of stories. Highly recommended.
September 23, 2020
A brutal collection of early Disch stories--grim, claustrophobic, desperate and despairing, but also brilliantly crafted, beautiful, and shot through with black humor.
My British edition starts with "The Roaches", "Come to Venus Melancholy", and "Linda and Daniel and Spike"--an unrelenting, devastating trifecta. Other knockouts: "Descending", "The Number You Have Reached", and "Moondust, the Smell of Hay, and Dialectical Materialism."
These are haunting masterpieces. I am now haunted and have been piece-mastered.
My British edition starts with "The Roaches", "Come to Venus Melancholy", and "Linda and Daniel and Spike"--an unrelenting, devastating trifecta. Other knockouts: "Descending", "The Number You Have Reached", and "Moondust, the Smell of Hay, and Dialectical Materialism."
These are haunting masterpieces. I am now haunted and have been piece-mastered.
May 24, 2015
une série de 17 nouvelles caustiques qui marquent le lecteur de leur vision pessimisme sur la nature humaine d'après DISCH
September 5, 2015
some cool funny stories. very black sense of humor
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews