In the mid-1980s, Easton Press began publishing a series of leather-bound collector editions called "Masterpieces of Science Fiction," and "Masterpieces of Fantasy," which featured some of the most important works in these genres. Author James Gunn was commissioned to write introductions to these works, which allowed him to pay tribute to many authors who inspired and influenced him. In Paratexts: Introductions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, Gunn has collected the most significant essays produced for the Easton series, along with prefaces he wrote for reprints of his own novels. Drawing upon Gunn's lifetime of work in the field, these introductions include analyses of the individual works and the fields in which they were written. Gunn also briefly discusses each novel's significance in the science fiction canon. Collected here for the first time, these prefaces and introductions provide readers with insight into more than seventy novels, making Paratexts a must read for science fiction and fantasy aficionados.

The late James Gunn was emeritus professor of English at the University of Kansas and the author or editor of 45 books and 100+ short stories. A former president of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Science Fiction Research Association, he received their lifetime awards and induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas.

CONTENTS
Preface
Prefaces (to books by James Gunn)
Star Bridge
Station in Space
Breaking Point
The Immortals
The Joy Makers
The Magicians
Some Dreams Are Nightmares
The Burning
The Listeners
Human Voices
Gift from the Stars
The Dreamers
Kampus
Masterpieces of Science Fiction
Masterpieces and Me
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
The World of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
1984, George Orwell
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Fury, Henry Kuttner
Out of the Silent Planet, C. S. Lewis
The Moon Pool, A. Merritt
What Mad Universe, Fredric Brown
Blood Music, Greg Bear
Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card
Islands in the Net, Bruce Sterling
The Postman, David Brin
When Gravity Fails, George Alec Effinger
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, Douglas Adams
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
Brute Orbits, George Zebrowski
City, Clifford D. Simak
Flatland, Edwin A. Abbott
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
The Island of Dr. Moreau, H. G. Wells
The Sword of the Lictor, Gene Wolfe
Jem, Frederik Pohl
The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle
The Dead Zone, Stephen King
Masterpieces of Fantasy
The Other Side of the Mirror
Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny
Magician, Raymond E. Feist
The Malacia Tapestry, Brian W. Aldiss
Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, Robert A. Heinlein
The Belgariad, Pawn of Prophecy, David Eddings
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Lord Foul's Bane, Stephen Donaldson
The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson
The Complete Compleat Enchanter, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
Darker Than You Think, Jack Williamson
Black Easter and The Day After Judgment, James Blish
Gather, Darkness!, Fritz Leiber
Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
The Last Unicorn, Peter Beagle
Little, Big, John Crowley
The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien
Lord Valentine's Castle, Robert Silverberg
Signed First Editions of Science Fiction
Falling Free, Lois McMaster Bujold
Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt
Blue Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
Cloud's Rider, C. J. Cherryh
Cosm, Gregory Benford
Destiny's Road, Larry Niven
Dragon's Eye, Anne McCaffrey
Dreamfall, Joan D. Vinge
Evolution's Shore, Ian McDonald
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Ursula K. LeGuin
Illegal Alien, Robert J. Sawyer
Lifehouse, Spider Robinson
The Memory Cathedral, Jack Dann
Moonrise, Ben Bova
About the Author