Lost in space : probing feminist science fiction and beyond /

Barr's intention, reiterated in a number of these essays, is to prevent the further marginalization or even the disappearance of feminist science fiction. To this end, Barr reads LeGuin and other feminist writers of science fiction in the context of postmodern fiction, contemporary experimental fiction, and any other category that promises serious and mainstream consideration. Her redesignation of the works of such writers as LeGuin, Charnas, and Tiptree does not guarantee their survival, but it does suggest at least one tactic intended to deghettoize the works of challenging and thoughtful feminists who use science fiction and fable to deconstruct the condition of women in patriarchy. In these readings, Barr insists on making connections to contemporary politics, from the recent presidential elections to the Holocaust. Reviewing Sally Gearhart's The Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women (1978), which uses the Holocaust as a historical reference point, Barr connects the hunting down and killing of women with her own immediate condition ("I am a Jew who is writing this piece in the University of Dusseldorf's humanities building [with Dachau] within excursion distance by train.") Barr's essays are provocative and immediate, her perspective often apocalyptic. This is a valuable book. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty; general. R. Nadelhaft; University of Maine at Orono