Joanna Russ

A new critical edition of the groundbreaking novella about a lesbian's feminist awakening in the 1970s by feminist and speculative fiction icon, Joanna Russ. Esther, a recently divorced academic, has her first lesbian love affair with graduate student Jean, which brings her everyday miseries into focus and precipitates a personal crisis. She flees her small, upstate New York college town in search of reassurance, only to find herself, as a lesbian, slipping through the cracks of the amalgam of movements that constituted the "New Left" of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Esther grapples with her evergreen gender confusion and the ghosts of therapists past, fumbles through comedic sexual self-discovery, and oscillates between visionary confidence and debilitating self-doubt. Confronted with the homophobia of straight feminists and the misogyny of gay men, Esther is left to forge a language for her burgeoning lesbian desire and "demand the impossible" from herself, her lover, her loved ones, and her life. On Strike Against God is quintessentially Russ: experimental but eminently accessible, alternately wry and earnest, poignantly didactic, playful, and always emotionally charged. This new critical edition of Joanna Russ's ground-breaking exploration of feminist and lesbian identity includes additional materials from Russ's archives: an essay by Russ called "Not for Years but for Decades," an alternate ending Russ considered for the book and letters to and from Marilyn Hacker about the alternate ending, along with an introduction by Russ scholar Alec Pollak, Samuel R. Delany's reflections on his decades-long friendship and correspondence with Russ, and an essay by a contemporary writer about the impact of Russ's work on contemporary fiction and feminist landscapes.

Rediscover one of America's best SF writers in a definitive hardcover edition gathering all her finest work together for the first time A LGBTQIA+ pioneer joins the Library of America series An incandescent stylist with a dark sense of humor and a provocative feminist edge, Joanna Russ upended every genre in which she worked. The essential novels and stories gathered in this definitive Library of America edition make a case for Russ not only as an astonishing writer of speculative fiction, but, in the words of Samuel Delany, "one of the finest--and most necessary--writers of American fiction" period. Here is her now-classic novel The Female Man (1975), in which four remarkable women--Jeannine, Janet, Joanna, and Jael--traverse alternate histories and parallel worlds (including the brilliantly imagined all-female utopia, Whileaway) in a multi-voiced, multidimensional voyage that continues to alter readers' sense of gender and reality. We Who Are About To ... (1977), recounting the fate of a misfit band of space-tourists stranded on an alien world, challenges "golden age" expectations about civilization, in what becomes an allegorical thriller. In On Strike Against God (1980), her incisive, darkly comic, and ultimately joyous final novel, Russ returns to Earth to explore LGBTQIA+ and feminist themes and the unfamiliar territory of "coming out" and lesbian romance. Russ's "Complete Alyx Stories"--which feature her inimitably sly, resilient, and stone-cold heroine Alyx, who is plucked from a life of petty crime in ancient Phoenicia to serve as adventurer-for-hire for the Trans-Temporal Authority, and which reinvent the sword and sorcery genre for a postmodern era--are presented in their entirety here for the first time, and newly restored to print. Also included are her unforgettable tales "When It Changed" and "Souls," the former a 1973 Nebula Award winner and the latter the recipient of the 1983 Hugo and Locus Awards.

Joanna. Jeannine. Janet. Jael. Four women, four worlds, four vastly different societies. When these women are suddenly able to communicate with each other through the boundaries of dimensions, they are confronted with what could have been if one thing changed in history. And they find themselves looking at their own worlds with new eyes. Acclaimed as one of the essential works of science fiction, The Female Man examines gender roles in society and remains a work of great power. It won a retrospective James Tiptree Jr. Award and a 2002 Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame award.'A stunning book, a work to be read with great respect. It's also screamingly funny' - San Francisco Review of Books'She was brilliant in a way that couldn't be denied'- The New Yorker'It's a gorgeous book, frankly, and well worth any reader's time' - Tor.comWelcome to The Best Of The Masterworks: a selection of the finest in science fiction

Celebrate classic novels of the New Wave era of sci-fi with this second collectable science fiction anthology from Library of America. Presenting 4 underrated science fiction classics from a tumultuous time in American history--including works by iconic Black author Samuel R. Delany and feminist Joanna Russ. In R. A. Lafferty's utterly idiosyncratic and uncategorizable Past Master (1968), Renaissance philosopher Thomas More is summoned to Golden Astrobe in the year 2535: Can he save the planet's troubled utopia from its soulless technological perfection and ensure the survival of the faith? Joanna Russ introduces one of SF's first and most engaging female adventurers in her taut and edgy debut novel Picnic on Paradise (1968): the tough, sardonic, unforgettable Alyx, an ancient Phoenician mercenary teleported into the future to serve as guide and bodyguard for a band of stranded space tourists. The first African American writer to make a name for himself in the genre, Samuel R. Delany was hailed as "the best science-fiction writer in the world" on the basis of Nova (1968), a white-hot, fast-paced, protocyberpunk interstellar adventure featuring a misfit crew on a high-stakes quest. Stumbling on a mysterious ancient text among his father's belongings, the son of a master woodcarver uncovers the key to revolutionary change in Jack Vance's Emphyrio (1969), a marvel of craftsmanship and visionary world-building set on remote, feudal, theocratic Halma.

Are women able to achieve anything they set their minds to? In How to Suppress Women’s Writing, award-winning novelist and scholar Joanna Russ lays bare the subtle-and not so subtle-strategies that society uses to ignore, condemn, or belittle women who produce literature. As relevant today as when it was first published in 1983, this book has motivated generations of readers with its powerful feminist critique.“What is it going to take to break apart these rigidities? Russ’s book is a formidable attempt. It is angry without being self-righteous, it is thorough without being exhausting, and it is serious without being devoid of a sense of humor. But it was published over thirty years ago, in 1983, and there’s not an enormous difference between the world she describes and the world we inhabit.” -Jessa Crispin, from the foreword“A book of the most profound and original clarity. Like all clear-sighted people who look and see what has been much mystified and much lied about, Russ is quite excitingly subversive. The study of literature should never be the same again.” -Marge Piercy“Joanna Russ is a brilliant writer, a writer of real moral passion and high wit.” -Adrienne Rich

Penguin reissues a work of classic science fiction from the revolutionary author of The Female Man - with a new introduction by Hari KunzruAn explosion in space, a starship stranded at the end of the universe, a group of strangers alone in a barren, alien wilderness. Facing almost certain death, the human survivors of a deep-space crash are determined to ignore the odds and colonize an inhospitable planet, recreating a civilization like the one they have lost forever. Only one woman rejects this path, choosing instead a daring and desperate alternative: to practice the art of dying. But her fellow passengers require her reproductive skills for their survival plan, and they are prepared to impose their regime by force if necessary... Joanna Russ offers an electrifying, original and challenging exploration of individual freedom, power, and our most primitive will to live. We Who Are About To ispart of the Penguin Worlds classic science fiction series

A landmark book in the fields of science fiction and feminism.

A multi-dimensional explosion hurls the starship's few passengers across the galaxies and onto an uncharted barren tundra. With no technical skills and scant supplies, the survivors face a bleak end in an alien world. One brave woman holds the daring answer, but it is the most desperate one possible. Elegant and electric, We Who Are About To... brings us face to face with our basic assumptions about our will to live. While most of the stranded tourists decide to defy the odds and insist on colonizing the planet and creating life, the narrator decides to practice the art of dying. When she is threatened with compulsory reproduction, she defends herself with lethal force. Originally published in 1977, this is one of the most subtle, complex, and exciting science fiction novels ever written about the attempt to survive a hostile alien environment. It is characteristic of Russ's genius that such a readable novel is also one of her most intellectually intricate.

It's influenced William Gibson and been listed as one of the ten essential works of science fiction. Most importantly, Joanna Russ's THE FEMALE MAN is a suspenseful, surprising and darkly witty chronicle of what happens when Jeannine, Janet, Joanna, and Jael--four alternate selves from drastically different realities--meet.

"To Write Like a Woman is a rare example of a feminist tackling science fictuion using postmodern theory, which makes for a much more sophisticated and nuanced appraisal than the usual fare." —Passion "Russ' essays are witty and insightful. An excellent book for any writer or reader." —Feminist Bookstore News "In her new book of essays . . . Russ continues to debunk and demand, edify and entertain. . . . Appreciative of surface aesthetics, she continually delves deeper than most critics, yet in terms so simple and accessible that her essays read like lively, angry, humorous dialogues conducted face-to-face with the author. Russ is the antithesis of the distant critic in her ivory tower." —Paul Di Filippo, The Washington Post Book World " . . . 20 years of the author's feisty reports from the front lines of literature." —The San Francisco Review of Books "This is a book of imaginative and provoking essays, but you should read it for the sheer fun of it." —The Women's Review of Books "Collects more than two decades of criticism by Joanna Russ, one of the most perceptive, forthright and eloquent feminist commentators around." —Feminist Bookstore News " . . . a super book. . . . This is a book that, for once, really will appeal to readers of all kinds." —Utopian Studies "If you enjoy science fiction, this is definitely a book that you'll want to talk about. I found myself sneaking a few pages at times when I really didn't have time to read." —Jan Catano, Atlantis Classic essays on science fiction and feminism by Nebula and Hugo award-winning Joanna Russ. Here she ranges from a consideration of the aesthetic of science fiction to a reading of the lesbian identity of Willa Cather. To Write Like a Woman includes essays on horror stories and the supernatural, feminist utopias, popular literature for women (the "modern gothic"), and the feminist education of graduate students in English.