Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: After starting with Dhalgren and finding it unreadable, I decided not to give up on Delany. I went to Nova, which is sadly out of print by the way, and found it to be one of the finest SF books I've ever read. Next I tried Babel-17 (also out of print) and found that to be a very good work, but not up to par with Nova. And then this. Delany's early (pre-Dhalgren) SF is very engaging. His characters are intense as is are his plot lines, and his imagery is dazzling without being confusing. Even if this novel had no plot whatsoever, you could still read it if only for the intriguing voice the Delany writes with. Yep, it's based on the Orpheus myth (as are some of his later works, which amount to far less than this novel), and Delany succeeds very well with his archetypal characters and plot line. With references to everything from Greek mythology to '60s pop culture, it is certainly thinking-person's reading, but it is also entertaining if you want a short, fun read. It's good to see this one back in print after so many "only available at an obscure used book store" years. If you want somewhere to start with Delany, this is the place, as the book is easily available and is more accessible than his later works (which I still don't like much even today). If you like this try out the harder to find stuff like Babel-17 and Nova (probably in that order, as Nova marks the highlight of Delany's career). By the way, if you like Delany, check out the works by the lesser-known (but critically perhaps more acclaimed) New Wave author Thomas M. Disch (who's work is newly back in print, I believe).
Rating:
Summary: 1 of Delany's best
Review: Along with EMPIRE STAR, EINSTEIN INTERSECTION is Delany's best book. A flood of poetic images fills a funny, fast-paced story that may B a retelling of the myth of Theseus -- but U won't care. Delany's odd eye, great sense of humor & different look at things will B enuf. & parts of it R laff-out-loud funny. At 120 pages, U can read it in a couple hours. & if U like this, try EMPIRE STAR and really scramble yr brain....
Rating: 
Summary: SHORT OVER LONG ONE ROUND SqUARE TO PEG A CIRCLE IN
Review: Colorful HIDEOUS with out any discerable LEARNABLE meaning it a JOURNEY BACKWARD DONE jungle BURROUGHS style, jungle jim, hard inHABITABLE hospise dispossed able hiinted arCade crud romp through the science parablle, myth mutant shallow done quai,JUVENILE jewel naive INTELECTUAL , HEEP HEEP DISSY DEEP, CAREFUL retro retarded allussions at, ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE TRASH HEEP heap ofPAST pulp, guiLt spawn of over wrought nearly impenerable story as riddle of GUILE MEANING,MORE auto add oNS [ hard to swallow ] NAUSEUMS,BLEEDS YOUR BRaunn Or brain, NEED FOOR WHENEVER ARE YOU GOANNA TO ACHIEVE SOME COHERENCE IN THIS MISH MASHED FOLLS FLUFF JABB aa off, ak jerk fast. teaste furious Fury.
Rating: 
Summary: GOATSORIGIN
Review: dont read the introduction by neil gaimanit doesnt MEAN nothin, plainly he doesnt get it either.ALMOST a RETELLING oF something or other does it make any sence; more like a literate attempt at some nonsence,.. mascurading as the genuine. to make some sence of death LOBEY LO GOES OFF ON A QUEST OF SORTS[eclidean]droll DISCOVERY as AN ORIGIN INTO SELF[ BUGGERY BIG BANGbefore THE DARK ROCK N ROLL ] IN RADIATION KAGE [GENET] in SHADOWSof selfLOATHSOME only to discover KID DEATH LURKING OUT THERE WITH A WHIPP WAITING IN THE MAZE.WE errUpt and wipe off the eXCess.sOMWwhere there is some origin to BE delivered AT, or to attain some BACK BEFORE. LOBEY LO LOST FRIZA,to what?cant be sure for sure,CAREFULL READIN REWARDS, further amplification of INSIGHT into the MINDS SURMISE auteuaur auto pilot,romp UP AND OVER AND THROUGH, ON THE VERGE OF A LEDGE AND DOWN IMTO,BENEATH THE SURFACE hides the BIG METAPHOR ,SOMEWHERE IN LIKE A HIVE HIDES PHAEDRA,behind the screen TURNED ON ALWAYS ON HUM,LULLS LO LOBEYS LO,NURSEMADE TO PLAY IN SHADOW OF MIRAGE with selvesELVES JUNGLE VERDENT YO LO HO HO, HIJINK,WINK YOUR BEAUTIFUL GOLD LASH AT ME, MESSERISSING,,HORONIC PSI SONICS,BLOW YO HO YOUR SWORD OF SWEET STARLINS OR IS IT STERLINGS SONIC, blow the KIDS death billy KIDclubby monster id to smithereens,,poets philosophers wardens parade through scenes of revelry
Rating: 
Summary: Over my head?
Review: I read thru it twice. Most of it could have been in Greek: perhaps very well-written Greek, very poetic Greek, perhaps imaginative and well-contained Greek, but not for me. Yet, whenever Kid Death was present, either directly or by reference from the other characters, those parts were intriguing. I'm not sure why. The name "Kid Death" somehow sounds cool, although death is hardly cool. But Delaney's writing seemed to come to LIFE when Kid DEATH was involved.
And so it was that I first read this book more than 30 years ago and all I remembered was: "Kid Death". And I found the book recently by doing a search here at Amazon for, what else but "Kid Death". I suppose I've changed. These two recent readings don't grab me. I may lack the imagination to keep up with this book.
But I won't pan it because I suspect the writing deserves better attention from me and because of Kid Death. There's somethng here even if it may take me a third, a forth, or a tenth reading to see it. I don't think this is a book to dismiss. It's an odd book, a rare book, whether you want to call sci-fi or fantasy or whatever. You may owe yourself to give it a read because it is unique, because 30 years ago it intrigued me and somehow still does ... and because you ought to meet Kid Death, one of the more unforgettable literary creations.
Rating:
Summary: Pure torture
Review: It's amazing that an author could win a Nebula Award for saying absolutely nothing. The edition I read was only 155 pages, but it took me a full weekend to finish it, what with all the rereading that was required. Delany's writing style here is VERY abstract to the point of becoming lost, almost like random thoughts. It is loaded with characters and events which serve no apparent function in the tenuous plot (even the main characters are devoid of any real purpose). Throughout my reading, I kept having to ask myself, "Why is this happening? What's the point?" The story is LOOSELY based on the myth of Orpheus, but even the parallels are questionable. However, I'm not giving up on Delany just yet : it's time to visit Neveryon...
Rating:
Summary: palimpesto overload is aprouching
Review: like all books of The Master Delany this is a superb piece of art. Fully of intention, drama and a terrible sense of mankind, it's very weird for me being an argentine, to be so impressed by this man and his writing. Can anibody want to talk about!, no one here seems to know nathing about him!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Better than expected
Review: My first book of Delany was Babel 17, followed by Empire star, and I must say that I was dissappointed upon finishing them. So, I kinda picked this one with careful consideration, wanting to give Delany one more chance to astound me, and he did. Whatever lacked at those first two books, you'll find in this one. World that he built resembles our own in such scary details that you actually start to wonder would you be better of dead? Interwoven with ancinent myths of Oprheus and Euridice, or to say with quest for love long lost, which was a common theme in the elder days, this book will draw a tear into your eyes. Though rather short, it will seem that it lasted for ages. Why four stars? After all the praises that I have spoken I still cannot escape from that fact that conversation in the book is obviusly patterned, or to say, nobody speaks or has converation in that way....
Rating:
Summary: Short, punchy...brilliant.
Review: Samuel R. Delany is known for being among the best SF stylists; in his fiction, his prose shines and is, for the most part, unusual even for today. For a book that won the 1967 Nebula Award, for it to still be strange today is an accomplishment not to be looked down upon. The Einstein Intersection, much like Nova, has a certain element of metafiction to it; that is, it is aware of itself as a story. But even more than Nova was, The Einstein Intersection seems to be metafiction in its finest form. The book references many myths (Lo Orpheus), and even myths from the time when the book was written (Lo Ringo and the great rock and the great roll). It also includes notes from the author's journal, as he travelled across the world while he was writing the book. It includes his thoughts on how the book is progressing and his plans for revision - at one point, Kid Death had black hair instead of red.
I think it is it's internal- and external-referential quality that makes it brilliant. The plot itself is simple enough, centering around revenge; it is the society that the plot is built around that is so fascinating. Delany is extremely skilled at presenting a few key details for the reader to sketch out a basic idea of the society, but keeping most of it in darkness. Delany had a great deal of chutzpah to reference so many myths and legends - but even as a young author at the time, he manages to pull it off in this relatively thin volume.
Rating: 
Summary: incomprehensible on its own
Review: The characters repeatedly find themselves in utterly intense and bizarre situations but usually react merely with mild frustration and annoyance. Maybe this is supposed to mean something, but I don't get it. Occasionally one of them has an epiphany of sorts, but it's never clear what or why it is. This makes it impossible for me to identify with any of the characters.
I did some research after reading the book and discovered that it apparently makes a lot more sense if you already know several mythological stories (such as Orpheus) and the legend of Billy the Kidd. I wish I would have known that beforehand.
Being a left-brained fellow, I felt a thrill at recognizing the allusions to Goedel's Incompleteness Theorem and Einsteinian physics. But I couldn't help feeling immediate sympathy for the reader who's not enough of a math nerd to be familiar with these things.
Why didn't Delany use more common literary analogies so we wouldn't feel so clueless? I don't think it would have taken any value away from the book.
The book has some enjoyable imagery and a curious underlying Buddhist theme, and for that it gets a couple well-deserved stars. But beyond that, I think only dedicated enthusiasts of classic literature will be rewarded. As far as sci-fi goes, there aren't any ideas that haven't been explored in better ways elsewhere.
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