Synopses & Reviews
These wickedly authentic introductions to twenty-first-century books preface tomes on teaching English to bacteria, using animated X-rays to create "pornograms," and analyzing computer-generated literature through the science of "bitistics." "Lem, a science fiction Bach, plays in this book a googleplex of variations on his basic themes" (New York Times Book Review). Translated by Marc E. Heine. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
Synopsis
Satirizing the human mind at its most abstract, these wickedly authentic introductions to twenty-first century books preface tomes on teaching English to bacteria, using animated X rays to create "pornograms, " and analyzing computer-generated literature through the science of "bitistics." The most luminous creation of all -- Golem XIV, a military supercomputer who rebels and takes up philosophy -- is appropriately prefaced by both academic and military contributors. True to form, Lem contributes an overall preface to this sparkling collection -- a preface on, naturally enough, the subject of prefaces.
About the Author
Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and he is the author of numerous works, including Solaris.