Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories
Encyclopedia
Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories, by Samuel R. Delany
(Vintage Books, 2003) is a thematically arranged collection, in the style of James Joyce
’s Dubliners
(1914), Sherwood Anderson
’s Winesburg, Ohio (1919), and Willa Cather
’s Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920). Also, for all practical purposes, it is Delany’s collected science fiction and fantasy tales. The book is closely based on an earlier collection, Driftglass
, which first appeared in 1971. The dedication to the two books is similar. (One is simply an updated version of the other, dedicating the book to Delany’s immediate family: his maternal grandmother, mother, sister, and father.) Both carry identical epigraphs. The ten tales contained in Driftglass are all contained in Aye, and Gomorrah, along with five other stories ("Omegahelm", "Among the Blobs", "Tapestry", "Prismatica", "Ruins"). The stories consist of ten science fiction tales, in the order the writer wrote them, followed by five fantasies, also in chronological order.
When the first collection was put together, Delany and his editor gave serious thought to calling it Aye, and Gomorrah, instead of Driftglass. The eponymous title story
had won Delany his third Nebula Award
— this one for best short story of 1967, so that using it to entitle his first collection would have seemed a reasonable choice. But New American Library, the initial contractors for the book (who had leased it to the Science Fiction Book Club, for a hard cover edition that would appear a year before their paperback), decided they did not want a title that pushed any of the homosexual implications in the stories. Note, nevertheless, that even Driftglass, with its suggestion of wandering, continues the theme of homelessness that the current title and the epigraph suggest. Thus, it is probably not wrong to read Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories as an ideal version of the older Driftglass.
The unifying thematic, suggested by the epigraph, is that it is a book in which the science fiction stories are largely about the problems of people who do not live in the city of their birth—who have all come to where they are from somewhere else. The epigraph — on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
, from a speaker who clearly has great feeling for the destroyed cities — suggests that his home city has been devastated. In some of the tales, such as the opening story in both books, “The Star-Pit,” the narrator’s family and children have been destroyed in a horrific war many years before and many light years away: a war of a sort, which, in the future the story depicts, has become so common that it would seem to be a background reality gotten through for better or for worse by pretty much everyone who currently survives. And the fantasies, such as “Prismatica,” “Dog in a Fisherman’s Net,” and “Ruins” all deal with the possibilities or the wages of journeying from one's home.
Only three Delany SF stories are not included in Aye, and Gomorrah. All three are slight enough so that one can understand why Delany might not wish to preserve them: two are collaborations, one with Harlan Ellison
(“The Power of the Nail,” contained in Ellison’s collection of collaborations Partners in Wonder); the other is a page-long prose poem, “The Dying Castles,” which appeared in a 1968 issue of the British SF magazine New Worlds
(#200), as under the joint authorship of James Sallis
, Samuel R. Delany, and Michael Moorcock
. (Several times Delany has said that he has no memory of having written any part of it; and he has assumed the use of his name among the authors was a jape.) The third is a piece only slightly longer called “The Desert of Time,” which was commissioned by Omni Magazine
to accompany an illustration in the late 1980s. But other than the stories that comprise his four-volume Return to Nevèrÿon series, it is fair to say that Aye and Gomorrah represents the totality of Delany’s SF and fantasy short fiction.
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
(Vintage Books, 2003) is a thematically arranged collection, in the style of James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
’s Dubliners
Dubliners
Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. They were meant to be a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century....
(1914), Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
’s Winesburg, Ohio (1919), and Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
’s Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920). Also, for all practical purposes, it is Delany’s collected science fiction and fantasy tales. The book is closely based on an earlier collection, Driftglass
Driftglass
Driftglass is a 1971 collection of science fiction short stories by Samuel R. Delany. The stories originally appeared in the magazines Worlds of Tomorrow, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, If and New Worlds or the anthologies Quark/3, Dangerous Visions and Alchemy & Academe.-Contents:*...
, which first appeared in 1971. The dedication to the two books is similar. (One is simply an updated version of the other, dedicating the book to Delany’s immediate family: his maternal grandmother, mother, sister, and father.) Both carry identical epigraphs. The ten tales contained in Driftglass are all contained in Aye, and Gomorrah, along with five other stories ("Omegahelm", "Among the Blobs", "Tapestry", "Prismatica", "Ruins"). The stories consist of ten science fiction tales, in the order the writer wrote them, followed by five fantasies, also in chronological order.
When the first collection was put together, Delany and his editor gave serious thought to calling it Aye, and Gomorrah, instead of Driftglass. The eponymous title story
Aye, and Gomorrah
"Aye, and Gomorrah..." is a famous science fiction short story by Samuel R. Delany. It is Delany's first sold short story, and won the 1967 Nebula Award for best short story. Before it appeared in Driftglass and Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories, it was first published as the closing tale in...
had won Delany his third Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
— this one for best short story of 1967, so that using it to entitle his first collection would have seemed a reasonable choice. But New American Library, the initial contractors for the book (who had leased it to the Science Fiction Book Club, for a hard cover edition that would appear a year before their paperback), decided they did not want a title that pushed any of the homosexual implications in the stories. Note, nevertheless, that even Driftglass, with its suggestion of wandering, continues the theme of homelessness that the current title and the epigraph suggest. Thus, it is probably not wrong to read Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories as an ideal version of the older Driftglass.
The unifying thematic, suggested by the epigraph, is that it is a book in which the science fiction stories are largely about the problems of people who do not live in the city of their birth—who have all come to where they are from somewhere else. The epigraph — on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
, from a speaker who clearly has great feeling for the destroyed cities — suggests that his home city has been devastated. In some of the tales, such as the opening story in both books, “The Star-Pit,” the narrator’s family and children have been destroyed in a horrific war many years before and many light years away: a war of a sort, which, in the future the story depicts, has become so common that it would seem to be a background reality gotten through for better or for worse by pretty much everyone who currently survives. And the fantasies, such as “Prismatica,” “Dog in a Fisherman’s Net,” and “Ruins” all deal with the possibilities or the wages of journeying from one's home.
Only three Delany SF stories are not included in Aye, and Gomorrah. All three are slight enough so that one can understand why Delany might not wish to preserve them: two are collaborations, one with Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
(“The Power of the Nail,” contained in Ellison’s collection of collaborations Partners in Wonder); the other is a page-long prose poem, “The Dying Castles,” which appeared in a 1968 issue of the British SF magazine New Worlds
New Worlds (magazine)
New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...
(#200), as under the joint authorship of James Sallis
James Sallis
James Sallis is an American crime writer, poet and musician, best known for his series of novels featuring the character Lew Griffin and set in New Orleans, and for his 2005 novel Drive, which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same name.He is the brother of philosopher John Sallis...
, Samuel R. Delany, and Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
. (Several times Delany has said that he has no memory of having written any part of it; and he has assumed the use of his name among the authors was a jape.) The third is a piece only slightly longer called “The Desert of Time,” which was commissioned by Omni Magazine
Omni (magazine)
OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
to accompany an illustration in the late 1980s. But other than the stories that comprise his four-volume Return to Nevèrÿon series, it is fair to say that Aye and Gomorrah represents the totality of Delany’s SF and fantasy short fiction.
Contents
- "The Star Pit"
- "Corona"
- "Aye, and Gomorrah…Aye, and Gomorrah"Aye, and Gomorrah..." is a famous science fiction short story by Samuel R. Delany. It is Delany's first sold short story, and won the 1967 Nebula Award for best short story. Before it appeared in Driftglass and Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories, it was first published as the closing tale in...
" - "Driftglass"
- "We, in Some Strange Power’s Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line" (this story is written in the style of and as a homage to Roger ZelaznyRoger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
, who also appears in it as a character) - "Cage of Brass"
- "High Weir"
- "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious StonesTime Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones" is a science fiction short story by Samuel R. Delany. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1970, and the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1969.-Plot summary:...
" - "Omegahelm"
- "Among the Blobs"
- "Tapestry"
- "Prismatica"
- "Ruins"
- "Dog in a Fisherman’s Net"
- "Night and the Loves of Joe Dicostanzo"
- Afterword: Of Doubts and Dreams