American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Part two of my review of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." A lot of great stories here, making a great introduction to the ideas of Chesnutt about the post-Reconstruction South.

The sociopathy of the technocrat and other issues are explored in Philip K. Dick's short story "Null-O." Dick had to sit on this one a while before publishing it, but it is notable as the only publication of his in 1958.

This is a story by Philip K Dick about posthumanism, with an interesting twist. They have the ability to change reality. So in "Misadjustment" do we have the best possible path to utopia?

And now we look at some of the stories in Charles Chesnutt's collection "The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line." This ia a great window into Chesnutt's views on race in America in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In this episide I look at four of the collected stories. "The Wife of His Youth" "Her Virginia Mammy" "The Sheriff's Children" "A Matter of Principle...

"The Unreconstructed M" is a good story to join with the more well-known "The Minority Report." While "The Minority Report" is based on psi powers, Dick relies entirely on big data to tell the story of law enforcement in this story.

In this episode, I begin a brand new series on turn of the century African-American writers. First up is Charles W. Chesnutt and his connected collection of short stories "The Conjure Woman".

And we have reached the end of the Leatherstocking Tales. In this episode we have my final thoughts on "The Prairie" . Looking ahead we are going to examine the works of Charles Chesnutt and other turn of the century black writers.

The finale of my review of Philip K. Dick's 1957 novel, "Eye in the Sky". Next up: more short stories.

In this episode, I continue my examination of Philip K. Dick's novel "Eye in the Sky". In this episode, we go from the Puritianical to the paranoid.

 Part 3 of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's final Leatherstocking Tale, "The Prairie".

Part four of my review of "Eye in the Sky" by Philip K. Dick. In this part we leave the nutty religious world and enter the nutty world of clean bourgie living.

Part two of my review of James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie". Let's see if old man Bumppo still has any of his old tricks.

Part three of my review of Philip K. Dick's "Eye in the Sky".

Part two of my review of Philip K. Dick's novel "Eye in the Sky".

In Dick's second novel, published in 1957, "Eye in the Sky", we go where no one has gone before, into the minds of others.

Part one of my review of "The Prairie", the last of the Leatherstocking Tales. It is a great send off for our hero Natty Bumppo.

The finale to my review of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper. It is all downhill from here. Only one more Leatherstocking Tale to go, "The Prairie".

 Conclusion to my review and thematic summary of Philip K. Dick's "The Cosmic Puppets". Let me know you thought of this novel. Next time, "Eye in the Sky"

Part 3 of my review of "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick. 

Part two of my review of Philip K. Dick's "The Cosmic Puppets".

Part one of my review of "The Cosmic Puppets" by Philip K. Dick, a great novel exploring the shifting realities in our towns and cities.

As we enter into the second half of James Fenimore Cooper's "The Pioneers" we find the most clear expression of Cooper's thoughts on the realtionship between pioneer society and the environment. We also find our good friend Natty in some legal trouble.

In the second quarter of "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper, we get a closer look at the emerging settler society in Templetown and learn more of the deep conflict between the ethos of Leatherstocking and that of the pioneers.

In "Pay For the Printer," Dick explores the challenges of a world of technological post-scarcity as it relates to our skills and knowledge. And he imagined a 3D printer. Some really great and relevant questions are raised in this short piece.

In "To Serve the Master", Dick explores the internal conflict between the work ethic and technological leisure. Which side are you on?