Saving the World Through Science Fiction: James Gunn, Writer, Teacher and Scholar

One of the major figures in science fiction for over sixty years, James Gunn has been instrumental in the development of science fiction teaching and in making science fiction one of the most vibrant and engaging areas of scholarly study. His genre history Alternate Worlds and his monumental The Road to Science Fiction anthologies introduced countless readers to the genre. While a professor of English at the University of Kansas, Gunn founded the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction in 1982. But Gunn has also been one of the genre's leading writers, whose classic novels Star Bridge (with Jack Williamson), The Joy Makers, The Immortals, and The Listeners, helped shape the field. Now in his nineties, Gunn remains a major voice in science fiction. His latest novel, Transformation (the conclusion of the Transcendental trilogy), will be published in 2017. Michael Page's study is the first to examine the life, career, and writing of this science fiction grandmaster. Drawing on materials from Gunn's archives and from personal interviews with Gunn and providing detailed analysis and commentary on Gunn's fiction, in The Science Fiction, Scholarship, and Teaching of James Gunn Page provides a much-needed exploration of one of science fiction's important figures.