December 19th, 2024, at the age of eighty-five, Barry N. Malzberg passed away, and the Science Fiction world lost a legend. As a committed Dickhead, I often think of that fandom as a small club, but for years, those who appreciate Malzberg were more of a secret club. PKD himself respected Barry’s work and was very excited that Barry dedicated his 1974 novel The Gamesman to him. (I wrote a whole column on that connection)
I was thankful that we got to interview Barry during the last year of his life. I got to exchange a variety of hilarious and insightful e-mails that came in a size 36 font. I am certainly excited that Barry saw some of recognition in the last few months in his life, and the rising respect for his work. Those of us who spent a decade or more promoting his work were certainly surprised. Barry was worthy of it, but a writer who writes bizarro SF as he did is normally condemned to dusty used paperback shops.
A couple of things happened. I want to think our interviews played a role, with hundreds of views. Small numbers compared to Bookpilled, but our followers are serious about their SF. Certainly, my co-host D.Harlan Wilson reissuing Malzberg titles helps. Nothing of course, compares to the support of booktuber Bookpilled. He has so many followers, and his reviews of Malzberg are seriously great.
Now that a couple of months have passed, I want to help guide people on a Malzberg Journey.
My Favorite Malzberg read is not a novel.
Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry N. Malzberg
Paperback, 389 pages. Published 2007 by Baen Books (first published April 1st 2007)
This book was clearly and openly influenced by Damon Knight’s In Search of Wonder, which collected his essays and thoughts on the early days of Science Fiction. I read that book a year before this one and I think both are very important. If you are not making lists of books in the canon that you thought you should read along the way, then you are doing it wrong. I added probably 40 books to my GoodReads “Want to Read” and found a few already there being reinforced. I didn’t always agree with Barry but I enjoyed getting his point of view. It on the shelf on my desk right in front of my face as I write.
My favorite Malzberg novel:
Galaxies by Barry N. Malzberg
208 pages, Paperback Published March 17, 2014 by Anti-Oedipus Press
First published August 1, 1975 Pyramid Books
Galaxies is a work of genius. It won’t work for everyone. It is a bit of satire, tongue-in-cheek commentary on the genre. It is not the kind of novel that would ever get attention for awards like Hugos or Nebulas. A good number of SF readers probably are never going to vibe with it. Had PKD or LeGuin written something like it, it would be taught and studied widely. It is a funny meta-text about the science fiction mega-narrative commenting on the genre almost as directly as his essays.
The Malzberg Everyone should read:
Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg
168 pages, Paperback (first published 1972)
Current edition Published August 3, 2015 by Anti-Oedipus Press
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1973)
This short novel is the essence of out-of-date science fiction. It is about the first expedition to Venus, a planet that we now know is too hot to visit. We have lots of great pictures in orbit, but the idea of going to land on Venus is pretty silly. I like reading the retro stuff because you get an idea of what the imagination was at the time, in this case, 1972. Clearly, in the space race, the Apollo missions were coming to an end and no one knew where space exploration was going after the Apollo program. This story suggests a disaster during a 1976 Mars landing, and the idea that we would be sending people to Venus in 1981 is pretty optimistic.
In many ways, BO is like a slightly harder sci-fi take on similar ideas that Lem explored in Solaris. He keeps it in the solar system and takes advantage of the early 70’s free love attitudes. I mean there is lots of adult language and tons of sex that feels very out of place and a bit awkward. Just looking at the various covers over the years is entertaining.
The Malzberg I found to be weirdest:
Destruction of the Temple by Barry N. Malzberg
159 pages, Paperback First published February 1974
DOTT is everything I read Malzberg for. It is a very post-New Wave work of Science Fiction. Strange, almost to the point of bizarro, the narrative is somewhat confusing in the opening act; if you don’t read the back and go in cold, it will be confusing. This might be different for others, but that is how I felt. That said, I was never bored. I wanted to understand what was happening, so I kept reading. Set in post-war New York, we are thrown into the middle of a stage play recreating the JFK assassination over and over again. Our point of view is a character who at some point realizes he is suddenly in the play, maybe he has traveled through time, and he is reliving the events. The surreal events of the novel highlight the chaos of the era expanded into an alternate future.
Malzberg Pen names:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O’Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston
All five Malzberg-related Podcasts I have done:
First Dickheads interview:
https://youtu.be/O4iHtN_IaOQ?si=vkG1ukwgxHAJMWdk
Second Dickheads interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw59TKb5Tuw
Beyond Apollo special w/ James Reich:
https://youtu.be/gE5oizISk3U?si=DmMAEaXh3BH6RFxd
PFDW Episode # 101 Galaxies by Barry N. Malzberg A Conversation with James Reich & D. Harlan Wilson:
Note: Sorry, I have not written in a column in a bit. I took a break from my personal podcast, columns, I slowed down on book reviews. I have some really cool columns planned. I had a combo of things happening. First, I was writing the sequel to my novel The Last Night to Kill Nazis. If you have not read the first book, you can pick it up at Barnes and Noble around the country. The sequel turned out great, so make sure you read the first book. Also, I put the final touches on a science fiction novel that was published in July called Great America in Dead World. So please check that out as well.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/great-america-in-dead-world-david-agranoff/1147438405
David Agranoff Grew up in Bloomington, Indiana hanging in the park that inspired this novel. His future wife worked at the Spoon serving the real-life Electric Fred. They have two of his notebooks and a house full of rescued animals. David is a novelist, screenwriter and a Horror and Science Fiction critic. He is the Splatterpunk and Wonderland book award nominated author of 11 books including the novels the WW II Vampire novel – The Last Night to Kill Nazis, and the science fiction novel Goddamn Killing Machines from CLASH BOOKS, The Cli-fi novel Ring of Fire, Punk Rock Ghost Story He co-wrote a novel Nightmare City (with Anthony Trevino) that he likes to pitch as The Wire if Clive Barker and Philip K Dick were on the writing staff. As a critic he has written more than a thousand book reviews on his blog Postcards from a Dying World which has recently become a podcast, featuring interviews with award-winning and bestselling authors such Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Alma Katsu and Josh Malerman. For the last five years David has co-hosted the Dickheads podcast, a deep-dive into the work of Philip K. Dick reviewing his novels in publication order as well as the history of Science Fiction. David’s non-fiction essays have appeared on Tor.com, NeoText and Cemetery Dance. He just finished writing a book, Unfinished PKD on the unpublished fragments and outlines of Philip K. Dick. He lives in San Diego where you can find him hooping in pick-up games and taking too many threes.
