Though Disch claims he did not set out to write a history of SF, it nonetheless provides a handy overview, albeit with Disch's pointed emphasis on the commercial, as opposed to literary, works which he believes have had the most cultural impact. For this reason, Disch makes a most persuasive case for Edgar Allan Poe -- not the more erudite Mary Shelley's Frankenstein -- as the source from which contemporary SF springs. It also buttresses his arguments that SF, with a few obvious exceptions (Verne, Wells), is a distinctly American phenomenon in which many of the major practitioners are still alive (Bradbury, Bova) or relatively recently deceased (Asimov, Heinlein). Disch does, however, discuss two movements that have had significant popular repercussions despite being more literary forms: the 60s' couterculturism of the New Wave and the concurrent emergence of Feminist SF. And although Disch was in the thick of this fray, there is little insider "dirt," although there are hints that Disch has some to dish out, but refrains out of respect for the still living or the memory of the dearly departed. The most intimate description Disch provides is that of J.G. Ballard, "genius in residence" of the New Wave, while he has some fun at the expense of Ursula Le Guin's political correctness (I suspect the two probably avoid each other at parties).

His most pointed words, however, are reserved for hacks, the L. Ron Hubbards and Whitley Streibers (although categorized as "non-fiction," Disch thinks his books more rightly belong to SF), whose lack of craft is secondary to their inspiration of pseudo-religious cults. Conversely, Disch's admiration for genuine storytelling talent overcomes his disdain for an author's religious or political beliefs, as is the case with Orson Scott Card or, most notably, SF Grandmaster Robert Heinlein, who has captured the attention of disparate zanies from Charles Manson to Newt Gingrich.

Although Disch is concerned primarily with written SF, he concedes that by far the most influential form is visual (yes, Virginia, incredible as it sounds, some people really do think Star Trek is science fiction). The impact of the visual poses a dilemma for the future of the commercial SF book industry, which today is mostly TV/movie spin-offs and serializations. Disch argues that this has led not only to a restricted market for worthwhile new SF, but the backlist deletion of many major books (indeed, Disch's own seminal works, Camp Concentration and 334, are currently out-of-print). The one glimmer of hope he sees is cyberpunk and its various offshoots, which he terms the "one significant evolutionary event in the field in the past 15 years."

These dire straits notwithstanding, Disch believes that science fiction, for good or bad, remains the best venue in which to dissect the peculiarities of our modern culture:

"Delmore Schwartz had half of it right: in dreams begin responsibilities. But it is no less true that in dreams begin irresponsibilities. The menu, in terms of our possibilities in both these respects, is well-nigh infinite. Science fiction is that menu."