From LISTSERV@listserv.uic.edu Fri Aug 25 10:35:54 2000 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 12:34:04 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at University of Illinois at Chicago (1.8d)" To: Laura Quilter Subject: File: "FEMINISTSF-LIT LOG0004A" ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 14:36:33 0100 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Petra Mayerhofer Subject: BDG Nominiation 2nd Interim Summary MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT So far we have 8 nominations: -- Constance Ash (Editor): Not of Woman Born. Tales of high-tech reproduction from the most inventive names in science fiction. (March 1999), ISBN: 0451456815, Penguin USA (Paper), Roc Books, 272 pages, List Price $6.99 David Brin: Glory Season. Bantam Books, list price - $6.99, ISBN - 0553567675 Deborah Christian: Mainline. Tor Books, 1996. List Price: $5.99/$7.99 (Canada), ISBN 0-812-54908-2 Emma Donoghue: Kissing the Witch : Old Tales in New Skins. Collection. Harpercollins Juvenile Books; ISBN: 0064407721 ; List Price: $11.00, Paperback - 240 pages, Reprint edition (May 1999). Katherine Dunn: Geek Love. KNOPF, ALFRED A 1989, 1990 (1117367290); Paperback - 355 pages (August 1993) Warner Books; ISBN: 0446391301 Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (eds.): Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction. ISBN: 0879517328, Overlook Press, paperbk March 2000, $16.95 (US) list price, 375 pages Nalo Hopkinson: Midnight Robber. Paperback - 329 pages (March 2000), Aspect; ISBN: 0446675601, $13.95 Peter Watts: Starfish. List Price: $6.99, Mass Market Paperback - 320 pages (February 2000), Tor Books; ISBN: 0812575857 -- The comments of the nominators can be looked up at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/bdg_nom_0400.htm Two more days to go. Petra Petra Mayerhofer mailto:mayerhofer@usf.uni-kassel.de -- BDG website http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 10:19:19 -0400 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Pat Lillquist Subject: book recommendation Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; Boundary="0__=IvlpXBSxhyz1OUDVQ6wrPjz7tgSRODcfWurAxYs5jQGyfbY6HRN7FxH7" --0__=IvlpXBSxhyz1OUDVQ6wrPjz7tgSRODcfWurAxYs5jQGyfbY6HRN7FxH7 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Hello - I am three-quarters through The Diamond Age and would like to recommend it to the group. I am new to this group since Feb 2000 so I don't know if this book has been read by the group or considered before. The summary below is somewhat misleading in that it sounds like Hackworth is the lead character. He is responsible for starting the process but the book revolves around Nell and the primer. available from amazon.com: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson List Price: $6.99 Our Price: $5.59 You Save: $1.40 (20%) Paperback - 499 pages Reprint edition (March 1996) Bantam Books (Mm); ISBN: 0553573314 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.87 x 6.87 x 4.18 John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change. >From Booklist , January 1, 1995 Stephenson's dazzling cyberspace adventure, Snow Crash (1992), drew accolades as one of the most innovative, thought-provoking first sf novels since William Gibson's Neuromancer. Unlike Gibson, who followed with lesser sequels, Stephenson breaks new ground in a grand-scale forecast of the coming nanotechnological revolution. John Percival Hackworth is a cultured nanotech engineer who risks the censure of his neo-Victorian social class, or tribe, when he forges a copy of an interactive, computer-driven book called A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. With the unprecedented power to single-handedly educate its reader, the primer is designed to shape the values and maintain the superiority of the dominant tribe. During a mugging, however, Hackworth loses the copy to a lower-class thug, who in turn gives it to his sister Nell. As Nell learns secrets from the magic book, her understanding of herself and her world grows in ways the primer's designers never intended, and the entire destiny of society changes irrevocably. Stephenson's command of character and stylistic nuance has grown captivatingly stronger, and he now offers startling new ideas in virtually every paragraph. With breathtaking vision and insight, Stephenson establishes himself as not only a major voice in contemporary sf but also a prophet of technology's future. Carl Hays Copyright --0__=IvlpXBSxhyz1OUDVQ6wrPjz7tgSRODcfWurAxYs5jQGyfbY6HRN7FxH7 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable =A9 1995, American Library Association. All rights reserved = --0__=IvlpXBSxhyz1OUDVQ6wrPjz7tgSRODcfWurAxYs5jQGyfbY6HRN7FxH7-- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 00:23:53 -0500 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Susan Hericks Subject: BDG Nominiation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I nominate _The Divided_ by Katie Waitman.1999, Ballantine (Del Rey). $12.95 PB. ISBN 0345414373. I recommened on-line ordering from Powells.com for those of you who like to support independents. (someone told me that Amazon owns Bibliofind. Can anyone confirm or deny this?) After (unsuccessfully) nominating Waitman's first book _The Merro Tree_ last time. I read it and found it very good. Waitman is very good at building worlds with full-fledged culture, incuding art forms and myth. The Merro Tree also has a very interesting cross-species love relationship. I am interested to see what she does in this new one. BTW, it has a beautiful cover. Also be warned that some of the reviews posted at Amazon seem (to me, at least) to be full of spoilers. Book Description Katie Waitman's award-winning first novel, The Merro Tree, heralded the arrival of an exciting new science fiction talent. Now the exceptional promise of that acclaimed debut is more than met in a powerfully original story of love, loss, and transformation. Set on a war-torn world of stark contrasts and fragile balances, of plenitude and poverty, romance and betrayal, Sa'har will stir the heart and haunt the mind long after the last page is turned. . . . Sekmé is a rarity--a female Maurheti soldier risen to the rank of Commander at the tender age of twenty-four. Daughter of a pilot killed in a gel-bombing raid on godless Tel-mari civilians, Sekmé is determined to crush resistance once and for all. But the merciless efficiency that has made her a hero to her soldiers and a demon to the enemy has also earned Sekmé the enmity of dangerous men closer to home. Men with interests other than victory. Merkus is a freedom fighter leading the resistance against the despoilers of Tel-mari wealth and honor. Sickened by the endless slaughter, he longs for a peace he has never known--a peace he has only read about in an ancient poem that sings of a mythical place called Sa'har. But to the Maurheti, Markus is a hated terrorist to be hunted down. Wepanu has spent his life wandering the inhospitable deserts of Maurhet, his only companions the mysterious entities known as jo. Visible to a chosen few, the jo remember what humans have forgotten--a prophecy passed on to Wepanu that will bring Sekmé and Merkus into a violent collision fated to shake the beliefs of Maurheti and Tel-mari to the core. A prophecy that will point the way to the peace of Sa'har--or ignite an all-consuming holocaust . . . Susan ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 17:42:12 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Grete Subject: April nomination MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I would like to nominate: Tanith Lee's "Biting the Sun", Mass Market Paperback - 400 pages (October 5, 1999) Spectra; ISBN: 0553581309 ; Dimensions (in inches): Price at Amazon = 4.29 Not only is this a beautifully crafted tale of a complex character rife with self-contradiction, but it explores a fascinating question: Is rebellion possible in a world without rules? Description from Amazon.com "The far future has brought freedom not only from material want but also from rules, responsibilities, and risk. You can change bodies and genders like clothes, make love with whomever you want, live forever, and kill yourself as often as you like. You can have everything, except a meaningful life. Then one day a restless soul discovers an act so shocking and terrifying that human society has forgotten its existence. --Cynthia Ward" Reader comments, also from Amazon: The book is really two novels in one. The first, "Don't Bite the Sun," deals with traditional dystopian themes, all written in Lee's brilliant, colorful prose and enacted by a crazy and fascinating set of characters. From the beginning the story throws you off balance and pulls you in: come on, what other novel opens with its narrator committing suicide? In the futuristic city of Four-BEE a strict age-based caste system dictates its inhabitants' lives, particularly the lives of the Jang, whose adolescence seems to last at least fifty years. You can do anything when you're a Jang. Drink, do drugs, marry, have love, kill yourself, all as many times as you like in whatever body you prefer; the only thing you can't do is...stop being a Jang. Thus when the anonymous, mainly-female protagonist decides to rebel against Four-BEE, but it's hard. When nothing is forbidden, what can you protest? Apparently there's something, because the second novel, "Drinking Sapphire Wine," deals with the other half of the story: what happens when the narrator finally ticks off the Powers That Be and is exiled from Four-BEE. Although I understand that the books were originally published as separate works, they mesh seamlessly into one another. In theory one could read "Drinking Sapphire Wine" without reading "Don't Bite the Sun"...but why miss the fun? Lee's Four-BEE is a weird and wild place, where pure hedonism is ultimately revealed to be hollow, but it's a delight to read about. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 00:57:40 -0500 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Chris Shaffer Subject: Amazon.com (was Re: [*FSF-L*] BDG Nominiation Comments: To: FEMINISTSF@uic.edu Comments: cc: feministsf-lit@uic.edu In-Reply-To: <001501bf9df5$f96bc080$5b3f45cf@oemcomputer> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 12:23 AM 4/4/00, you wrote: >I nominate _The Divided_ by Katie Waitman.1999, Ballantine (Del Rey). $12.95 >PB. ISBN 0345414373. I recommened on-line ordering from Powells.com for >those of you who like to support independents. (someone told me that Amazon >owns Bibliofind. Can anyone confirm or deny this?) (original message posted to the on-topic list at feministsf-lit@uic.edu, please post all replies to the off-topic list at feministsf@uic.edu) Yes, Amazon.com bought Bibliofind. See (http://www.bibliofind.com/news.htm). I've heard some scary things about Amazon.com's (http://www.amazon.com) actions in the trial/settlement with Amazon Bookstore (http://www.amazonfembks.com/) - can anyone confirm that Amazon.com acted in a distinctly anti-feminist way during that dispute? p.s. I have ordered a few things from Amazon Bookstore and their customer service and delivery times are good. Powells is a good independent bookseller as well, though I've never used their online ordering. ----- Librarians - Information Technology Leaders since 3000 BC Chris Shaffer http://www.uic.edu/~shaffer/ chris@bsinc.net AIM:ChrisShaff ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 09:05:10 EDT Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: "Demetria M. Shew" Subject: Re: Amazon.com (was Re: [*FSF-L*] BDG Nominiation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/03/2000 11:04:28 PM Pacific Daylight Time, shaffer@UIC.EDU writes: << though I've never used their online ordering. >> Works great. Madrone ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 12:19:44 -0500 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Robin Reid Subject: CFP: Chinese Fantastic Women (FEMSPEC; 10-1-00) Comments: To: cfp@english.upenn.edu, iafa-l@ebbs.english.vt.edu, owner-melus-l@listserver.TAMU-Commerce.edu, h-pcaaca@h-net.msu.edu, sfuf@csd.uwm.edu, SFRA-L@ebbs.english.vt.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I apologize for any duplications in this mailing. Please note that I am not the contact person for this project! FEMSPEC CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Special Journal Issue: Chinese Fantastic Women FEMSPEC, an interdisciplinary feminist journal dedicated to critical, pedagogical and creative works in the realms of SF, fantasy, magical realism, and other supernatural genres, is planning a special issue on Chinese Fantastic Women. Women play an important role in Chinese fantastic fiction. They are sometimes benefic and victims, sometimes malefic and avengers. A further study on the art of aestheticising women into the fantastic can penetrate the phantasm hidden behind this fictional creation in Chinese patriarchal culture. In this issue of FEMSPEC we plan to offer a range of critical approaches in women's studies to Chinese fantastic fiction as well as film and other genres. Possible topics, though not limited to these, include: - Women's social position and the fantastic - Love themes in the fantastic - Venomous women and fatal attraction - Women, wisdom, immortality - Erotics and fantastic - Narratives of fantastic women - Metamorphosis of women - Supernatural women characters - and other related subjects We also solicit original creative works concerning the related subjects of this special issue. The deadline for submitting papers is October 1, 2000. Critical papers should be about 15 pages (MLA format). Please send four hard copies of your submission by regular mail. Your name and address should be included only on your cover letter, the works itself should have only the title. If you wish your hard copies returned, please include a SASE with sufficient postage. Send submissions to: FEMSPEC Special Issue "Chinese Fantastic Women" Feng-Fang Chen Applied English Department I-Shou University No.1, Sec.1, Hsueh Cheng Road Ta Shu Hsiang, Kaohsiung Taiwan e-mail: fanfan@csa500.isu.edu.tw ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 20:41:58 -0400 Reply-To: rudileon@earthlink.net Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Rudy Leon Organization: Syracuse University Subject: Re: Amazon.com In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.20000404004947.00b50e00@tigger.cc.uic.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/enriched; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT 0100,0100,0100On 4 Apr 00, , Chris Shaffer wrote: 0000,7F00,7F00> I've heard some scary things about Amazon.com's > (http://www.amazon.com) actions in the trial/settlement with Amazon > Bookstore (http://www.amazonfembks.com/) - can anyone confirm that > Amazon.com acted in a distinctly anti-feminist way during that > dispute? Pat Holt's e-column, with excerpts from the deposition, is included below. I hope this is OK to post here, I mean no infringement on Holt by posting this, just information-sharing. In brief, Amazon.com should probably be avoided by any activist- oriented women for the way they went after Amazon Fem. Bookstore -- reads like some equivalent of a rape trial.... Footlight MT LightFrom: 0000,0000,8000"Pat Holt" < Subject: 0000,0000,8000[Holt Uncensored] #100 Date sent: 0000,0000,8000Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:02:30 -0700 Send reply to: 0000,0000,8000HoltUncensored@nciba.com HOLT UNCENSORED To New Readers: "Holt Uncensored" is a free online column about books and the book industry written by former San Francisco Chronicle book editor and critic Pat Holt. You can subscribe or "unsubscribe" by clicking 0000,8000,0000http://www.nciba.com/patholt.html . -------- AMAZON V. AMAZON: SEX, LIES AND DEPOSITIONS So here's the scene: One of the five owners of Amazon Bookstore in Minneapolis - the oldest feminist bookstore in the country - is being deposed by lawyers representing Amazon.com, the online bookseller based in Seattle - when a very strange thing happens. Q (AMAZON.COM LAWYER): Have you had any particular interest in feminism? A (AMAZON BOOKSTORE CO-OWNER): Yes. Q: Dating back to when? MR. SAMUEL (Amazon Bookstore lawyer): Objection, Vague. A. I don't know. I don't remember. Q. Seventies, college, before? A. Possibly. Q. Have you had any interest in promoting lesbian ideals in the community? MR. SAMUEL: Object to the question as vague. Also it's completely irrelevant. A. I don't know exactly. Can you be a little clearer? Q. I'll ask you this, are you gay? [To Mr. Samuel] And let me say this, Matt, you know the objections. I understand you have a job to do, and I'm going to ignore you for the rest of the deposition . . . Good heavens. As you may remember (see #80), Amazon Bookstore (founded in 1970) is suing Amazon.com (founded in 1995) for trademark infringement. The Minneapolis bookstore contends that it has lost money for years because of confusion created by customers and vendors who mistake Amazon Bookstore for Amazon.com. Attempts by Amazon Bookstore to find a peaceful solution through talks with Amazon.com were rebuffed, they say, and they sued. So now: What does sexual orientation have to do with trademark infringement? Let's get back to the deposition after a number of objections and discussions have followed. Q: In 1987, was the purpose of the entity for which you worked to just sell books for profit? A: We sell books to stay in business for a profit, yeah. I guess I would say that. Q: You sell books, but has the purpose remained the same since 1987? A: The purpose is - has been to sell books. Q: Nothing else? A: Not in my opinion. Q. Okay. . . Are any of the employees at the Bookstore gay, and forgive me for asking this question. MR. SAMUEL: I'm going to object to the question as irrelevant. Calls for speculation. A: You're asking me to speculate on my coworkers' sexuality, is that the question? Q: I'm asking if you know. And here the Amazon.com lawyer inserts what is to him an analogy that will explain all. Q: I think, for example, if I tell people or introduce them to my wife and tell them this is my wife, I'm married to her, if somebody asks me if I'm married or asks somebody else to whom I've just introduced my wife whether I'm married, that person can say yeah, he's married, to my knowledge to a woman. So I'm asking you if you know if any of the individuals that you work for are gay to your knowledge. MR. SAMUEL: Counsel, that's an absurd comparison, and you know that. You're not asking - you can ask her if any of the women at the Bookstore are married. Q: You accused me of stereotypes. What's the difference of being married to a man or woman? Essentially, that's what I'm asking. Do you know if any of the women at the Bookstore, are any of the women at the bookstore married to a woman? A: It's not legal to be married to a woman. Q: Do they have partners? We don't know from this public record if everyone laughed out loud at the Amazon.com's lawyer's confusion over what his wife is doing in a story that's supposed to elicit answers about gay identity. But let's give some points to the Amazon Bookstore co-owner for helpfully pointing out something he should know as a lawyer - that women can't be married to one another. Why she doesn't bonk him on the head with a law book is a puzzlement. And what any of this has to do with trademark infringement is a mystery. Could it be that Amazon.com has no defense, and its lawyers know it? Ah, but the next day the Amazon.com lawyer is fresh and anxious to do the right thing as he begins deposing another co-owner of Amazon Bookstore, to whom he shows a document. Q: You see in the E-mail it states, all the owners at this time of Amazon Bookstore Cooperative and historically have been all lesbians. Do you see that? A: No. Where is that? Q: Is that an accurate statement, to your knowledge? I don't mean to ask a personal question, and I apologize for doing so. MR. SAMUEL: Yeah. Just hold on for a second. . . (OBJECTIONS AND OFF-THE-RECORD DISCUSSIONS FOLLOW) Q: Do you know whether any of the current owners or employees of Amazon Bookstore Cooperative are partners? MR. SAMUEL: Same objection . . . this question is invasive, and it's clearly irrelevant. (MORE OBJECTIONS) Finally the Amazon.com lawyer decides to state why he thinks the question is relevant. He stops the proceedings and says the following: "I think it's important, as I said yesterday, that a jury understands how Amazon Bookstore Cooperative represents itself to the public, and I think as part of that, it's important for the jury to know, for example, whether the people who work in the Bookstore have a particular sexual orientation because obviously from the perspective of my client, we think that's important to the case, the defense's case, and that is one of the grounds for relevance." You can skip the rest of his explanation, but in deference to what I think he is trying to say I've transcribed it anyway: "And on the question of whether people are partners, in deposing people, and if we continue to depose employees at the Bookstore, I would certainly like to know if they have a relationship with somebody else at the Bookstore. And it would be more likely than not that they would have access to the same information, similar to a man and a woman who are married." Well, there he goes again (not listening to yesterday's witness, by the way), though it's clear he's not comfortable with the line of questioning and has one thing further to say: "And, again, I don't take any pleasure in asking these questions, and from my perspective, I ask them - to me, it's like asking somebody if they have red hair. I don't particularly put a label on somebody because they have a particular sexual orientation. To me if you're married, it doesn't matter if you're married as a man and a woman, woman and woman or man and a man." So that's very gracious of Amazon.com's lawyer, and we're sure the co- owners of Amazon Bookstore, who had to sit through many days of questions and assumptions that were just as irrelevant as these, felt a lot better when he explained himself. Meanwhile, it's worth looking at such testimony to appreciate why the court makes these kinds of depositions public: If Amazon.com thinks it's playing some kind of hardball by disclosing the sexual identity and relationships of the staff of Amazon Bookstore, we should know it. And we should know that all of these questions are being asked not just by some attorney fishing for bait he can use later but "from the perspective of my client," which is to say the people who own and operate Amazon.com. Can't you see some strategist in a back room somewhere suddenly looking as if the light has dawned. Say, he says to himself, these women are dykes! We can't lose! Our 'defense' is proof they're a bunch of lezbos and we walk away with the trial! Otherwise, why ask how "the Amazon Bookstore Cooperative represents itself to the public" when it's clear on every identifying statement made by that store that it's a feminist bookstore? Its website is 0000,8000,0000http://www.amazonFEMBKS.com (emphasis mine). Its purpose is the same as every other independent bookstore in the country - to "sell books to stay in business for a profit" as the co-owner testified. Of course it sells a lot of lesbian books - so does Amazon.com! To Matt Samuel, the Amazon Bookstore lawyer who appears to be getting madder and madder during the depositions, "this line of questioning by Amazon.com borders on the outrageous," as he said on the phone yesterday. To stop it, on October 8 he moved for a protective order "to prevent Defendant Amazon.com from inquiring into the sexual orientation or relationships of any witness in this case." In this motion, Samuel makes the astute observation that "under Amazon.com's view of the law, Amazon Bookstore could and should have asked Amazon.com's President, Jeff Bezos, if he is gay or straight, and whether he is sleeping with anyone in his company who also might be a witness. "One would think that both Mr. Bezos and his counsel would have taken offense at this line of questioning, and refused to answer. The principals of Amazon Bookstore are entitled to every bit as much respect and protection from harassment as Mr. Bezos." So come on, Jeff, one wants to say: Call off the dogs. This suit is a legitimate attempt to determine trademark infringement. It's not about anything else. If you think it is, you're not fighting fair. (And by the way, have you ever had a boyfriend?) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Rudy Leon PhD student Dept. of Religion Syracuse University rudileon@earthlink.net ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 19:59:50 -0500 Reply-To: quiltedpoetry@att.net Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Liz Bennefeld Subject: BDG Nominiation In-Reply-To: <001501bf9df5$f96bc080$5b3f45cf@oemcomputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I've just finished reading this book, and it is extremely moving. It speaks to me of the "secrets" that everyone assumed everyone else knew, but nobody talked about; about social patterns which serve those who control can access to knowledge; about intuition and risk taking and lying to oneself when underlying truth is too terrible to contemplate. I do not like all of Tepper's books, by any means, but, in my opinion, this one should not be passed up by any woman. Title: _Singer from the Sea_ Author: Sheri S. Tepper Format: Paperback ISBN: 0-380-79199-4 Publisher: Avon Science Fiction Pub. Date: March 2000 Price: US $6.99/CAN $9.99 -- E. W. Bennefeld Freelance Writer, Editor, and Academic Style Editor Since 1984 d.b.a. The Written Word QuiltedPoetry@att.net http://TheWrittenWord.home.att.net http://www.PatchworkProse.com "The antithesis of altruism is nihilism." -- E. Wicker ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 09:06:41 +0200 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Dunja Mohr Organization: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Universit=E4t?= Trier Subject: Room-Sharing at WisCon 24, Madison Comments: To: FEMINISTSF@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU, iafa-l@ebbs.english.vt.edu MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------4C61EAF66D74151180C5CFDB" --------------4C61EAF66D74151180C5CFDB Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit *** Apologies for any cross-postings*** Hi there, if you are female and going to attend the feminist SF gathering WisCon 24 in Madison, Wisconsin, on Memorial Weekend the 26-29th of May 2000, or know of any women friends attending, and are willing to share a room (the flat rate is 83 $), please contact me off-list. Dunja Mohr __________________ University of Trier English Department Germany mohrd@uni-trier.de --------------4C61EAF66D74151180C5CFDB Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit *** Apologies for any cross-postings***

Hi there,

if you are female and going to attend the feminist SF gathering WisCon 24 in Madison, Wisconsin, on Memorial Weekend the 26-29th of May 2000, or know of  any women friends attending, and are willing to share a room (the flat rate is 83 $), please contact me off-list.
 

Dunja Mohr
__________________
University of Trier
English Department
Germany

mohrd@uni-trier.de
 
  --------------4C61EAF66D74151180C5CFDB-- ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 11:01:01 0100 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Petra Mayerhofer Subject: BDG Nominiation 3rd Interim Summary MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT It's the last day for nominations. So far we have 12 nominations. -- Constance Ash (Editor): Not of Woman Born. Tales of high-tech reproduction from the most inventive names in science fiction. (March 1999), ISBN: 0451456815, Penguin USA (Paper), Roc Books, 272 pages, List Price $6.99 David Brin: Glory Season. Bantam Books, list price - $6.99, ISBN - 0553567675 Deborah Christian: Mainline. Tor Books, 1996. List Price: $5.99/$7.99 (Canada), ISBN 0-812-54908-2 Emma Donoghue: Kissing the Witch : Old Tales in New Skins. Collection. Harpercollins Juvenile Books; ISBN: 0064407721 ; List Price: $11.00, Paperback - 240 pages, Reprint edition (May 1999). Katherine Dunn: Geek Love. KNOPF, ALFRED A 1989, 1990 (1117367290); Paperback - 355 pages (August 1993) Warner Books; ISBN: 0446391301, List price $13.99 Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (eds.): Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction. ISBN: 0879517328, Overlook Press, paperbk March 2000, $16.95 (US) list price, 375 pages Nalo Hopkinson: Midnight Robber. Paperback - 329 pages (March 2000), Aspect; ISBN: 0446675601, $13.95 Tanith Lee: Biting the Sun. Mass Market Paperback - 400 pages (October 5, 1999), Spectra; ISBN: 0553581309, List Price: $5.99 Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age. List Price: $6.99, Paperback - 499 pages Reprint edition (March 1996), Bantam Books (Mm); ISBN: 0553573314 Sheri S. Tepper: Singer from the Sea. Paperback, ISBN: 0-380- 79199-4, Avon Science Fiction, March 2000, List price US $6.99/CAN $9.99 Katie Waitman: The Divided. 1999, Ballantine (Del Rey). $12.95 PB. ISBN 0345414373. Peter Watts: Starfish. List Price: $6.99, Mass Market Paperback - 320 pages (February 2000), Tor Books; ISBN: 0812575857 -- The comments of the nominators can be looked up at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/bdg_nom_0400.htm To the nominators: please check whether your nomination is included and everything is o.k. with the comments. I am not perfect and mistakes are (quite) possible. Petra Petra Mayerhofer mailto:mayerhofer@usf.uni-kassel.de -- BDG website http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 14:23:51 +0100 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Jennifer Krauel Subject: Nomination - Gilda stories Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed I would like to nominate the Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez. A very small group of us discussed it last year in San Francisco, and I would love to hear what the larger group has to say about it. I might also be able to get Jewelle to join us at some point or at least give us an update on her current work in progress. The Gilda Stories : A Novel List Price: $12.95 Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Paperback - 256 pages (June 1991) Firebrand Books; ISBN: 093237994X ; My brief summary: Gilda is a vampire, but not the usual kind: She's a black woman, a runaway slave who is befriended by a vampire and later taken into the vampire's family. Her life is portrayed as a series of stories spanning the time through today and into the future. Gomez provides detailed vignettes of gold-rush San Francisco, Boston in the 1950's, the New York city theater world in the early '70's, among others. But these are not your standard Lestat upscale venues. Gomez takes us to where the real people lived, the farmers and prostitutes and aspiring actors. We see the civil rights, black power, and gay/lesbian struggles through the eyes of Gilda and the mortals she loves. Midwest Book Review The Gilda Stories is an elegant, sensual, and natural vampire fantasy. Time-traveling from Southern slavery in 1850 to environmental devastation 200 years later, Gilda is the quintessential outsider seeking community. Jewelle Gomez combines a natural flair for storyteller with an ability to weave tapestries of personality that grab the mind's imagination and won't let go. A memorable story, deftly told. An anonymous review posted on Amazon.com: I've tried loaning this book to four different people. None of them seem interested in it until I start giving away what I consider to be the good bits. You've been warned. Gomez writes feminist vampires and portrays a kinder, gentler vampirism than I'm used to. They have small clan-like societies based on philosophy of life rather than ability. The act of drinking blood isn't a near-rape for one clan, but a "sharing." These vampires leave hopes, dreams and inspiration to the random people upon whom they feed. Rather than murder, Gilda herself may have saved a life through her hunger. The book follows Gilda from the late 1800's through to the early 2000's. It also follows her small cell of vampire family from a time when they were the stuff of legend to their exposure. This is a fine book. It's the first I've read that actually uses the idea of running water as a problem for vampires, or the passing on of a name and legend from one vampire to the other. Gomez's writing is clear and somewhat poetic, and her ideas are sweet enough to even make the legendary bloodsucking demons of the night seem like kind, gentle, neighborly folk. Please read it. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 10:32:36 0100 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Petra Mayerhofer Subject: BDG nomination period is closed MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT The BDG nomination period is closed. There are 13 nominations (see list at the end of this message). The list incl. the comments of the nominators can be looked up at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/bdg_nom_0400.htm The voting process will be coordinated by Terri Wakefield . Please wait for her message explaining the procedure and do not send your votes to the list. Petra Nominations: -- Constance Ash (Editor): Not of Woman Born. Tales of high-tech reproduction from the most inventive names in science fiction. (March 1999), ISBN: 0451456815, Penguin USA (Paper), Roc Books, 272 pages, List Price $6.99 David Brin: Glory Season. Bantam Books, list price - $6.99, ISBN - 0553567675 Deborah Christian: Mainline. Tor Books, 1996. List Price: $5.99/$7.99 (Canada), ISBN 0-812-54908-2 Emma Donoghue: Kissing the Witch : Old Tales in New Skins. Collection. Harpercollins Juvenile Books; ISBN: 0064407721 ; List Price: $11.00, Paperback - 240 pages, Reprint edition (May 1999). Katherine Dunn: Geek Love. KNOPF, ALFRED A 1989, 1990 (1117367290); Paperback - 355 pages (August 1993) Warner Books; ISBN: 0446391301, List price $13.99 Jewelle Gomez: The Gilda Stories. List Price: $12.95, Paperback - 256 pages (June 1991), Firebrand Books; ISBN: 093237994X ; Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (eds.): Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction. ISBN: 0879517328, Overlook Press, paperbk March 2000, $16.95 (US) list price, 375 pages Nalo Hopkinson: Midnight Robber. Paperback - 329 pages (March 2000), Aspect; ISBN: 0446675601, $13.95 Tanith Lee: Biting the Sun. Mass Market Paperback - 400 pages (October 5, 1999), Spectra; ISBN: 0553581309, List Price: $5.99 Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age. List Price: $6.99, Paperback - 499 pages Reprint edition (March 1996), Bantam Books (Mm); ISBN: 0553573314 Sheri S. Tepper: Singer from the Sea. Paperback, ISBN: 0-380- 79199-4, Avon Science Fiction, March 2000, List price US $6.99/CAN $9.99 Katie Waitman: The Divided. 1999, Ballantine (Del Rey). $12.95 PB. ISBN 0345414373. Peter Watts: Starfish. List Price: $6.99, Mass Market Paperback - 320 pages (February 2000), Tor Books; ISBN: 0812575857 -- Petra Mayerhofer mailto:mayerhofer@usf.uni-kassel.de -- BDG website http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 12:05:17 -0400 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Terri Subject: Re: BDG nomination period is closed In-Reply-To: <200004060832.KAA06640@cserv.usf.uni-kassel.de> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Hi Everyone! Please send your votes to me at Not to the list! Vote for the *FOUR* books of your choice. I will be accepting votes from now until Friday, April 14th at midnight EST. Winners will be posted Monday, April 17th. After you have sent your four (4) votes you should receive a confirmation from me within 24 hours. If not, please repost. We want to make sure everyones' votes are received and counted. :o) Thanks Terri Wakefield > > >Nominations: >-- >Constance Ash (Editor): Not of Woman Born. Tales of high-tech >reproduction from the most inventive names in science fiction. >(March 1999), ISBN: 0451456815, Penguin USA (Paper), Roc >Books, 272 pages, List Price $6.99 > >David Brin: Glory Season. Bantam Books, list price - $6.99, ISBN - >0553567675 > >Deborah Christian: Mainline. Tor Books, 1996. List Price: >$5.99/$7.99 (Canada), ISBN 0-812-54908-2 > >Emma Donoghue: Kissing the Witch : Old Tales in New Skins. >Collection. Harpercollins Juvenile Books; ISBN: 0064407721 ; List >Price: $11.00, Paperback - 240 pages, Reprint edition (May 1999). > >Katherine Dunn: Geek Love. KNOPF, ALFRED A 1989, 1990 >(1117367290); Paperback - 355 pages (August 1993) Warner >Books; ISBN: 0446391301, List price $13.99 > >Jewelle Gomez: The Gilda Stories. List Price: $12.95, Paperback - >256 pages (June 1991), Firebrand Books; ISBN: 093237994X ; > >Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel (eds.): Bending the Landscape: >Science Fiction. ISBN: 0879517328, Overlook Press, paperbk >March 2000, $16.95 (US) list price, 375 pages > >Nalo Hopkinson: Midnight Robber. Paperback - 329 pages (March >2000), Aspect; ISBN: 0446675601, $13.95 > >Tanith Lee: Biting the Sun. Mass Market Paperback - 400 pages >(October 5, 1999), Spectra; ISBN: 0553581309, List Price: $5.99 > >Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age. List Price: $6.99, Paperback - >499 pages Reprint edition (March 1996), Bantam Books (Mm); >ISBN: 0553573314 > >Sheri S. Tepper: Singer from the Sea. Paperback, ISBN: 0-380- >79199-4, Avon Science Fiction, March 2000, List price US >$6.99/CAN $9.99 > >Katie Waitman: The Divided. 1999, Ballantine (Del Rey). $12.95 >PB. ISBN 0345414373. > >Peter Watts: Starfish. List Price: $6.99, Mass Market Paperback - >320 pages (February 2000), Tor Books; ISBN: 0812575857 >-- > >Petra Mayerhofer >mailto:mayerhofer@usf.uni-kassel.de >-- >BDG website >http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Comet/1304/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 09:35:08 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Maryelizabeth Hart Organization: Mysterious Galaxy Subject: BDG process MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks to Petra and Terri for the time they invest in the BDG nomination and tally process! Maryelizabeth -- Maryelizabeth Hart Publicity Manager ****************************************************************** Mysterious Galaxy Local Phone: 858.268.4747 3904 Convoy Street, #107 Fax: 858.268.4775 San Diego, CA 92111 Long Distance/Orders: 1.800.811.4747 http://www.mystgalaxy.com Email: mgbooks@mystgalaxy.com ****************************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 13:14:00 -0700 Reply-To: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC Sender: Feminist SF/Fantasy and Utopia Literature ON TOPIC From: Freddie Baer Subject: Le Guin's Lathe Returns To TV Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >From SF Wire: 3:00pm ET, 5-Apr-00 Le Guin's Lathe Returns To TV The Lathe of Heaven, the 1980 television movie based on Ursula K. Le Guin's SF novel of the same name, will return to the airwaves in June in a digitally remastered version. The film, about a man whose dreams have the power to reshape reality, will be offered to public television stations as a 20th anniversary special by WNET in New York City in association with American Public Television, starting June 1. The rebroadcast will be accompanied by a new, exclusive interview of Le Guin by Bill Moyers. It's the first time the movie--originally produced as part of WNET's Television Laboratory--has been seen on public television in 20 years, WNET spokesman Marc Fenton told SCI FI Wire. The movie version of Lathe is based on Le Guin's best-selling 1971 novel and was called one of the top 100 greatest works of science fiction by Entertainment Weekly. The Lathe of Heaven, which stars Bruce Davison, Kevin Conway and Margaret Avery, will be made available on home video and DVD in the fall, Fenton told SCI FI Wire.