Generic Genre Novels

Weird Universe informs us that, in 1981, Jove Publishing produced a line of four generic genre novels. They sold for a $1.50 each. They were called "No-Frills Books." These are short, anonymous works that cover all of the basic tropes in each genre.

This was during a time when black and white labeled generic products were common in American grocery stores. I suspect but cannot confirm that the No-Frills Books reflected this marketing trend.

So I ordered a copy of Science Fiction through interlibrary loan. Let's look inside, shall we?

I photographed the first chapter (sorry, but my library's document scanner is currently broken), which is seven pages long.

The novel is only 58 pages long, but it tells a complete story set in a near future (early 21st Century) during which humanity now stretches across the solar system.

Although it's a generic novel, Science Fiction is skillfully written. The anonymous author hits all of the tropes listed on the cover, but not in a slapdash fashion. S/he put his/her effort into crafting a solid story with erudite prose.

One interesting element I found buried in the book: there's a character named Professor Josiah Carberry, a lecturer "psychoceramics." I was amused by this obviously pseudoscientific term. So I googled it.

The Professor Carberry character is an inside joke at Brown University. In 1929, a public bulletin board featured an advertisement for a lecture by this person, an expert in psychoceramics--that is, a crackpot. He is apparently still a popular character in Brown University lore.


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