Since everyone else is de-lurking, and since Tepper fandom is
on the table:
I'm an assistant professor of philosophy, specializing in
feminist science criticism. I'm a very big fan of Tepper's (although
also a fan of Butler, Griffith, Slonczewski, Le Guin, and a score of
others, Tepper's my number one favourite). I'm a displaced Canadian,
living and working in Texas, where I am constantly judged to be a
godless communist - an image I do nothing to dispel!
I have a big fat grey tabby cat called Dennis; I have
struggled, and am struggling, in my work with a philosophical grand
assumption - that getting the argument right matters, and that if
feminists can manage to get their arguments right, then things will
change for women. I probably believed this at one time, early in my
graduate career, but I no longer do.
I used Tepper's _Gate to Women's
Country_ in my dissertation because I was so struck by its power to
persuade without resorting to the usual forms of philosophical
discourse. Its subversiveness also appealed to me. I'm currently doing
more work on the book, which doesn't especially go over well in
professional philosophy; I am fortunate to be in an interdisciplinary
program where I can explore such "unorthodox" material. I'm also
fortunate to have a Dean who's a big science fiction fan!
I agree that Tepper's novels sometimes tend to be a little too
bombastic in their politics. However, I compare her work mentally to
earlier efforts, such as Gilman's _Herland_, which is marred by pages
and pages of excruciatingly dull, didactic speeches, and I find Tepper
to be pretty low-key by contrast. I *loved* _Gibbon's_, and agree that
it was one of her recent best. I also agree that perfection would make
her much less fun to read, and to work with/on!
Finally, about the list itself - it's been a treasure in terms
of reading list suggestions, and it's great to have participation by
the authors themselves. Nicola, I hope you don't get "too famous" for
us!
Edrie Sobstyl
School of Arts and Humanities
University of Texas at Dallas
P.O. Box 830688 Richardson Tx 75083-0688
(972) 883-2365
(972) 883-2989 (fax)
On Sat, 5 Jul 1997 13:05:48 +0100 Berni Phillips <bernip@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:
> Susan Mundahl wrote:
> >
> > I have just finished "Gibbon's Decline and Fall" It was incredible! Does
> > anyone know how to get in touch with the author? I believe that her books
> > are so insighful. They have helped me focus on what is important in this
> > liminal age when we are trying to overcome the shackles of patriarchal
> > bondage. Anyone care to discuss the book? Please contact me at
> > isisbear@aol.com.
>
>
> I am a Tepper fan as well. I think you'd probably have to write her
> publisher (info should be on the copyright page) to contact her.
>
> I haven't read her newest (_The Family Tree_ or something similar to
> that), but I thought that _Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ was the best book
> she'd written in years.
>
> I admire Tepper tremendously but I think she also has some serious flaws
> as a writer. One of these is that she gets so carried away with her
> politics that she tends beat the reader over the head with them. Even
> though I generally agree with her message, the heavy-handedness makes me
> wince. I thought that she did a fine job of *not* doing that in
> Gibbon's. (Did you read _Shadow's End_? All the female characters were
> good and all but one of the men were bad--and the one good man was
> pretty much an honorary woman.) Her politics were there, but they were
> deftly woven and crucial to the story. (Also, while her passion and her
> politics is one of her greatest faults, it is also one of her greatest
> strengths and what keeps me coming back to her. She cares passionately
> about what she's writing. You know she's not just tossing it off.)
>
> Her other bad fault (as I see it, of course) is that she has a problem
> ending her novels. She tends to rush the ending and throw in all sorts
> of things. She does this particularly in _Beauty_, with her rant on
> horror writers, and _A Plague of Angels_, which had some really
> interesting concepts in it otherwise, such as the archetypal village.
>
> Still, if she were perfect, she would be much less interesting to
> discuss.
>
> Berni Phillips
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