Being Gardner Dozois

Rating:
Summary: Requires more than a passing acquaintance with Dozois's work
Review: Towards the end of this book, Gardner Dozois says, "I figure there's about five people in the world who are going to want to read this book. Maybe that's overestimating it." To some extent Dozois is correct: this book is not for everyone. In fact, this book will be next to useless to anyone who has not read most of Dozois's short fiction, collections of which are increasingly hard to find.

For this 243-page, book-length interview with Dozois, conducted by acclaimed SF author Michael Swanwick, is not about Dozois the editor (since 1986 he has been the award-winning editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine), or even about Dozois the person, but about Dozois the writer. The interview's format is to discuss each of Dozois's published stories, one by one. If you haven't read these stories, much of this discussion is going to elude you. I have, and as a result I enjoyed the book a great deal.

Gardner Dozois's stories are beautifully written and have a subtle power. By all means track down his short story collections (The Visible Man, Slow Dancing Through Time, Geodesic Dreams, Strange Days) and discover them for yourself. Then and only then, if you're suitably awed (as you should be), should you rustle up a copy of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Requires more than a passing acquaintance with Dozois's work
Review: Towards the end of this book, Gardner Dozois says, "I figure there's about five people in the world who are going to want to read this book. Maybe that's overestimating it." To some extent Dozois is correct: this book is not for everyone. In fact, this book will be next to useless to anyone who has not read most of Dozois's short fiction, collections of which are increasingly hard to find.

For this 243-page, book-length interview with Dozois, conducted by acclaimed SF author Michael Swanwick, is not about Dozois the editor (since 1986 he has been the award-winning editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine), or even about Dozois the person, but about Dozois the writer. The interview's format is to discuss each of Dozois's published stories, one by one. If you haven't read these stories, much of this discussion is going to elude you. I have, and as a result I enjoyed the book a great deal.

Gardner Dozois's stories are beautifully written and have a subtle power. By all means track down his short story collections (The Visible Man, Slow Dancing Through Time, Geodesic Dreams, Strange Days) and discover them for yourself. Then and only then, if you're suitably awed (as you should be), should you rustle up a copy of this book.