Un-American Dreams

Reviews / Votes

'The tone throughout ties together the impressive mix of genre theory, cultural interpretation, political commentary, intellectual history, and biography. It balances critical theory with interpretation and argument in the exegesis of its five central texts/ideological formations. It is a pleasure to think with and a delight to read. Un-American Dreams is worth reading for those interested in the complex workings of hope for and deferral of radical alternatives to the present state of things. It is a coherent and cohesive project that presents deep research on its material from solid footing in a critical tradition. For these reasons and more, it is worth thinking with Ramirez about how to resuscitate hope the hard way, through an immanent critique of hope's shadowy form in apocalyptic sf of the American century.' Brent Ryan Bellamy, Science Fiction Studies 'Un-American Dreams is a landmark work of cultural-historical scholarship with extraordinary utility for scholars, teachers, and students examining late twentieth-century apocalyptic fantasy.'

David M. Higgins, American Literary History 'Un-American Dreams is a success both as a work of interpretive close reading and one of pop-cultural history, as it challenges its readers to consider (pseudo-)apocalyptic science fiction beyond the easy scholarly cliches that have proliferated over the past half-century and to entertain the possibility that the utopian mode may not be quite as dead as is often assumed.' Alan Mattli, Amerikastudien