Publications and Research
Document Type
Other
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
"Rudolph The Red Nosed Squirrel or Miracle on 82nd Street: Fiction/Quotation/Exposition" by Marleen S. Barr (3721 words) Well…way to sell that weird in the first story and sell it hard. This…this is a metatextual sleigh ride through science fiction, about science fiction, about the ways in which science fiction is shaped and manipulated by people and the way that science fiction can shape and manipulate reality. But fuck is this not a really odd story that mixes "real life" with pure fantasy, positing a black Samuel Delany Santa Claus and a world that isn't quite so bound by rules as all that, but only because it's a story, admits it is a story, and runs with that idea. And my brain hurts. In the best of ways my brain hurts from reading this story. It's like a very dense essay on literary theory crashed into a political science fiction novel and whole mess fell into a cauldron of high quality drugs. I can't pretend that I followed all of it because it evokes some serious figures in theory, but I like to think that I could follow the feel of the story, and that's rather an accomplishment given the insanity that unfolds. What I'm left with (aside from some motion sickness and vague confusion) is an idea of science fiction that invites engagement, that wants to change the world and can. It's an interesting story and very worth wrestling with. Indeed!--From Quick Sip Reviews
Comments
Original publication: Barr, Marleen S. "Rudolph The Red Nosed Squirrel or Miracle on 82nd Street: Fiction/Quotation/Exposition." Farrago's Wainscot. 2015. http://www.farragoswainscot.com/2015/16/rudolph.html