From one of science fiction's most acclaimed novelists .. comes this engrossing journey through the books .. movies .. and television TV programs that have shaped our perspective .. of both the present & the future .. In an uncompromising .. often irreverent survey of the genre of sci fi .. from Edgar Allan Poe .. to Philip K. Dick .. to Star Trek .. author Thomas M. Disch analyzes science fiction's impact on technological innovation .. fashion .. lifestyle .. military strategy .. the media .. & much more .. An illuminating look at the art of science fiction .. with a practitioner's insight into the craft .. as well as a work of pointed literary and cultural criticism .. this book reveals of how this " pulp genre " has captured the popular imagination .. while transforming the physical and social world in which we live."