The Birth of Fantasy
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In Search of Silence: The Journals of
Samuel R. Delany, Volume 1, 1957-1969
Edited by Kenneth R. James
Wesleyan. 720 pages, $40.

FOR THOSE OF US who grew up reading Samuel Delany’s science fiction novels or who benefited from his exceptionally detailed books on the craft of writing, there are so many mouthwatering bits in this volume, his first twelve years of journals, that it’s hard to know where to jump in. For those less familiar with Delany’s career, a good starting point might be that he was born in 1942 and started keeping a journal at a young age. The entries in In Search of Silence begin when he was fifteen years old.