m $3.00 x -t SUMMER1981 Vol. 22, No. 2 XJ ,,J:a The Fantastic Stories of 0 Cornell Woolrich r­ Edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. J:a Greenberg. Introduction by Francis M . Nevins, Jr. -t Afterword by Barry M. Malzberg. Alfred Hitch­ cock recogni zed their ee ri e potential immediately, -0 m ak ing m ovies fro m the s to ri es of Corn ell Woolrich. Tales of the utterl y lost w ith a se nse of 2 EXTRAPOLATION creeping doom as palpable as colda fingers bout the throat. $24.95 The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April, 1965 en Edited by Edward L. Ferman. Memoirs edited by c Martin H. Greenberg. This is a fa cs imile of th e first s: iss ue o f Th e M agazine o f Fantasy and Science Fic­ s: tio n edited b y one o f th e acknowledged greats in m the field, Ed ward L. Ferman. Al so incl uded here are :ti specially so li cited m emoirs fro m contributors such as Poul Anderso n, Isaac Asimov, and o th ers. $16.95 Also of interest ... Astounding Science Fiction July, 1939 < Edited b y John W. Ca mpbell, Jr. Additional matter g_ edited b y M artin H. Gree nberg. Preface by Stanley Sc hmidt $12.95 The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton Ed it ed by Barry N . M alzbcrg and M art in H . Green­ berg. Introducti on b y Ba rry N. Malzberg $15.00 Bridges to Science Fiction Edited by George E. Slu sse r, George R. Guffey, and Mark Rose. $9.95 Fantastic Lives Autobiographical Essays by Notable Science Writers Edited by M artin H. Greenberg $15. 00 All above books are in th e se ri es Alternatives. At your bookstore or directl y from [I SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS ii P.O. Box 3697, Carbondale, Illinois 62901 EXTRAPOLATION SUMMER 1981 Vol. 22, No. 2 114 Contributors 115 Launching Pad DAVID J. LAKE 117 Wells's Time Traveller: An Unreliable Narrator ALEXEI AND CORY PANSHIN 127 Science Fiction and the Dimension of Myth FRANK CIOFFI 140 Gilbert Sorrentino's Science Fiction World in Mulligan Stew ELIZABETH ANNE HULL 146 The Little Professor, Intuitionist: A Transactional Analysis of Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves TED KRULIK 155 Science Fiction in the Classroom: Can Its Essence be Preserved? JOY POHL 164 Dualities in David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus ROBERT PLANK 171 The Expedition to the Planet of Paranoia JOHN W. CRAWFORD 186 Utopian Eden of Lost Horizon GEORGE L. WILLIAMS 191 Italian Science Fiction in the 1980s 196 Star Cluster 203 Books ISSN: 0014-5483 Contributors Frank Cioffi is Assistant Professor of English at Eastern New Mexico University. He has published fiction and articles in The Artful Dodge, Politics and Education, Journal of English Teaching Techniques, and others. He is currently working on a science fiction novel, Polyphasic Planet. This article is a revision of a paper presented at the 1980 Popular Culture Association meeting. John W. Crawford is chairman of the Department of English at Henderson State University in Arkansas. He has published on topics in Shakespearian studies and Victorian literature, and his articles have appeared in such journals as Southern Quarterly, SCMLA Studies, and Research Studies. Elizabeth Anne Hull teaches science fiction at William Rainey College in Palatine, Illinois. She has published articles on teaching science fiction in Essays in Arts and Sciences and on Robert Heinlein in Extrapolation, including a review of his Number ofthe Beast. She also has articles on Heinlein, Lloyd Biggie, Jr., and Judith Merril pending publication in Twen­ tieth Century Science Fiction Writers. Ted Krulik teaches English at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, New York. He has been an SFRA member since 1975 and a lifelong science fiction enthusiast. George Elrick identi­ fies him in Science Fiction Handbook as having coined the term "The Fishbowl Effect," an explanation of what science fiction attempts to do. David J. Lake is Reader in English at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He has published a book and many articles on the problems of Jacobean dramatic authorship as well as articles on H. G. Wells in The Wellsian, Science-Fiction Studies, and The Stellar Gauge, a critical anthology. His forthcoming fiction book, The Man Who Loved Mor­ locks, is a sequal to and a rewriting of The Time Machine. Alexei and Cory Panshin are science fiction writers and critics. Their most recent books are Earth Magic, a novel, and SF in Dimension, a collection of twenty-two essays. "Science Fiction and Dimension of Myth" is a background study for their forthcoming book Mas­ ters of Space and Time: The Story of Science Fiction. The Panshins live on a farm in Pennsylvania with their two-year-old son Adam. Robert Plank, after a long career in psychiatric social work, now teaches the psychology of literature at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Many of his publica­ tions deal with this topic, and several have appeared in Extrapolation. He is currently working on a book about the psychological aspects of Orwell's 1984. Joy Pohl teaches English at a high school in Prince George's County, Maryland while com­ pleting a doctorate in English Education at the University of Maryland. George L. Williams is currently a chairman of English in the Port Washington Public Schools, Port Washington, New York. A former Fulbright Scholar, he taught in Italy in 1959-60. He returned to Italy in 1964 to obtain research material for his dissertation on Italian fascism. Since finishing his doctorate, he has returned there frequently to obtain materials for the many articles he has published on contemporary Italian life. 114 THE LAUNCHING PAD • Donald A. W ollheim has agreed sion. It was in the worst possible to participate at the M.L.A. meet­ time-slot of the meeting, being ing in New York next December in scheduled for the last meeting time a dialogue concerned with his ca­ of the convention. Incidentally, Pat reer as a pioneer writer and editor as suggested that we might co-edit well as the publisher of DAW a volume of essays concerned with Books. As author of The Universe science fiction and religion/ philo­ Makers, he has presented one of the sophy. If anyone is interested in most important accounts of the de­ contributing to such a collection, velopment of the field of science fic­ please write to either one of us. I tion. I regret that I cannot yet pro­ might add that the third volume of vide the exact time and place of the Voices for the Future is almost session. I'll give it as soon as I can. ready to go to the publisher and As yet the decision of the M.L.A. should be completed by the time Executive Committee regarding the this issue is published. Its actual creation of a continuing Science publication date will be some time Fiction Discussion Group has not in 1982. yet been made. The committee will By the time this issue is out, not meet until sometime in May. SFRA will be holding its annual Again, I'll pass on that information meeting at Regis College in Denver. as soon as I have it. Professor Charlotte Donsky is One last item regarding M.L.A.: chairman. While it will be too late thanks to Professor Patrick G. Ho­ for you to participate in the pro­ gan, Jr., of the University of Hous­ gram, this notice may appear in ton for chairing last year's meeting, time for you to attend that meeting. and to Hal Hall of Texas A & M I regret that I must miss it because University for leading the discus- I'll be teaching summer school and 115 The Launching Pad cannot get away from Wooster, am sorry to see him retire, for he primarily because I'll be on leave brought to the study of the field a next year. I hope that at least some perspective that none of us who are of the papers will appear in Extra­ products of American culture can polation. duplicate. I hope that SFS will con­ Denver is, of course, also the set­ tinue to flourish. I am also pleased ting for this year's W orldcon from that one of its editors, Charles El­ September 3 to 7. Those interested kins of Florida International Uni­ in attending should write to Den­ versity, will be on the Executive vention Two, Box 11545, Denver Committee of the Science Fiction 80211. Clifford D. Simak and C. L. Discussion Group when its forma­ Moore are to be the Guests of tion is approved. Honor. As I said, I will be on leave next Incidentally, the special issue of year, but this will not interfere with Extrapolation devoted to women in editorial matters regarding Extrap­ science fiction has been postponed olation. I want to spend at least part at least one issue so that there may of the autumn in England, where I still be time to submit an article. I hope to consult with some old hope that a number of books writ­ friends, like I. F. Clarke and Brian ten by various women can be re­ Aldiss, and meet some individuals, viewed in that issue. Speaking of re­ like Brian Stableford, with whom I views, my thanks to those of you have corresponded. In the winter I who volunteered. By this time I plan to be in California, primarily should have sent you items to be re­ in the Los Angeles area, and I hope viewed.