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February 27, 2004

When's the Haruki Murakami Issue Coming Out?

by Ron Hogan

Jonathan Lethem was one of the first authors I interviewed, and he told me, "I'm a science fiction writer forever, but I don't think that's all I am. I don't think it's a second class way of being a novelist, and I don't think it should be an obstacle to the people who would appreciate my writing." He's certainly gotten increased mainstream literary attention with the book since then, such that many reviewers of The Fortress of Solitude just tried to pretend its fantastic elements weren't there.

Anyway, when I came to New York and inadvertently moved into Motherless Brooklyn (a fact I didn't realize until picking up the book a couple months after settling into my new apartment), I used to see Jonathan around on the F train and at readings and whatnot, and he's always been unfailingly supportive of the site and swell personally, but I still get a persistent chuckle out of this Paul de Filippo satire Stephany spotted at the Locus website, in which he and Margaret Atwood launch a new fiction magazine called Inside/Outside:

"In short," Atwood said, "we believe that we have finally managed to take the tools and tropes of science fiction, cast out everything that made that genre unique yet déclassé, and preserve what remains in a savory aspic compounded of equal parts gentility, fine writing, and prestigious and remunerative literary prizes."

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