The publication of Michael Swanwick's "A User's Guide to the Post Moderns" sent angry shockwaves rippling through the science fiction community. Not since the controversy surrounding the advent of the so-called New Wave writers of the 1960s and early 1970s had anyone dared to categorize science fiction writers. A work that was originally intended as an homage, to illuminate the works of many of the younger writers in the field, "A User's Guide" was villified in numerous fanzine articles and convention panels. But Swanwick's essay was not intended to generate controversy, and it remains, beyond the initial conflagration, a thoughtful and insightful look into the science fiction field of the early to mid-1980s. Herein lies the genesis of writers like William Gibson and Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling and James Patrick Kelly. "A User's Guide to the Post Moderns" is published here for the first time since its initial magazine appearance in Asimov's, along with "In the Tradition...", Swanwick's elegant essay on the fantasy genre, as well as a brand new introduction written by Swanwick for this collection.