urth Digest, Vol 26, Issue 20

Greetings: "But maybe it's wrong of me to feel it's OK to psychoanalyse Dick because he's not around any more, when I'd be reluctant to examine Wolfe the same way ;-)" The next target of this kind of analysis is upon us: The new biography about Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree, Jr. Enough pop psychology and pseudo-feminism to make you sick. (One of my degrees is in women's studies, or feminist studies if you prefer...I found the book very tiresome). Save your time. Re-read the Charles Platt interview in his "Dreammakers" anthology (volume 2). Fred Kiesche (FPK3) My books are water; those of great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water. (Mark Twain, "Notebook") Over 7,000 postings served! See The Eternal Golden Braid (http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/ ).

I found the Tiptree/Sheldon biography to be simultaneously reverential and revelatory. I don't think it was full of pop psychology or pseudo-feminism. On the contrary, it very accurately (to my mind at least) portrayed the generational split between the feminism of the 40s to early 60s and the next generation that came of age in the late 60s and 70s. Its insights into Sheldon's character and motivations seemed both sympathetic and insightful. I never met Alice Sheldon but I knew enough women of her generation to see the portrait as true-to-life. I would highly recommend the book to any fan of her writing. -- Dave Lebling (aka vizcacha)

This was just reviewed in the Australian (www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20557436-5003900,00.html) "And unlike many good literary biographies, this one is unlikely to send you off in search of the original writing. There's a posthumous collection, published in 2000, called Meet Me At Infinity, but the work is a curiosity, not a classic." !?! David Duffy.