Mr Mordant: A Career Overview of Thomas M Disch, Premiere Science Fiction Satirist

[@vintagesf]

This is so good. Thank you for this overview of Disch. Looking forward to exploring more of his work. One of his books which I read but decided not to review is 'Camp Concentration'. I found it accessible in the beginning but as it went on it became more and more stream of consciouness with the decline of the narrator's health. The scary dystopian injustice of prisoner medical malpractice will stick with the reader. It certainly did for me. Knowing more about Thomas M. Disch brings a new depth to the horrors of 'Camp Concentration'. (Not a horror novel, but horrific in human experience.)

[@MrThefall3]

seeing as you've covered Disch i think a John Sladek episode would be fun, really underrated name these days imo

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, I like John's stuff and most struggle with it- in time, I will tackle his oeuvre.

[@danieldelvalle5004]

Again, a fantastic video overview , you can't go wrong with the Disch. Unfortunately underappreciated, and I wish there were a renaissance of his work. The world as it is demands more writers like Disch.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Too true, my friend!

[@ralphmarrone3130]

Thomas M Disch is one of my favorite writers. Brilliant. His “horror” is also excellent.

[@ralphmarrone3130]

His story, The Asian Shore, is a phenomenal masterpiece.

[@allanlloyd3676]

As you know, I am a great admirer of Disch and this was the most interesting feature for me that you have done for ages. I own almost all the books that you mentioned, though I am still looking for a copy of Black Alice, but strangely my books are almost all different editions to the ones you have shown. My US paperback copy of Getting Into Death has a completely different set of stories to the one you have. I also have a rather nice Gregg Press edition of The Early SF Stories of TMD, which repeats many of the stories in the early collections, but is a beautiful book. I also love Neighboring Lives and think it is one of his best. I haven't read it for ages and must get back to it. I think it is time for a serious Disch reread!

[@psychonaut56]

I wish this video would go on forever. Disch had some great books and some good bad books toward the end. His reviews for Twilight Zone magazine (some of which were collected in On Sf) are brilliant. I need to check if the video blog he recorded at the end of his life is still up. Great art, but not a happy life.

[@LuciFeric137]

I took me a minute to fathom "puppies" when i first read it decades ago. Disch is one of my favorites

[@keithreynolds]

I gasped when you pulled out the cover of 334 computer and door image. I don't know why I like what I like.... quite so much. I'm working on my latest 'Artist Book' as I listen to this. I think it's about to be "christened" as: 'Go Young Once More Forever'. I'm making a white leather cover with some thin found wood pieces with eroded paint. All very minimalistic and mostly white throughout. Thanks for the channel as always.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers Keith, great to hear from you as always, keep on creatin', sounds good!

[@thomasp6034]

Love Camp Concentration and The Genocides. I could not stop thinking about the latter and it actually gave me nightmares - which basically never happens with books, at least for me. The story "Fun With Your New Head" is hilarious, I am very curious about Clara Reeve and the other pseudonymous work. It's simply crazy that his great novels and stories are not in SF Masterworks - or Penguin Classics for that matter.

[@victorrodley9099]

Great overview of a Brilliant Writer-Much appretiated

[@themojocorpse1290]

I read The genocides in just 2 sittings ! Blew me away absolutely great book . Been after camp concentration for a while and have just got a nice copy. Disch maybe another author I read in order of publication as I have with Christopher priest . Great episode Steve Most enjoyable many thanks .

[@leemason6897]

"Descending" is one of my favourite short stories and and one I think about every time I get on an escalator. I know what you mean about "The Prisoner", it was practically obligatory to be a fan when I was at university in the 80s, and as I was in Wales, a pilgrimage to Portmeirion was required. But it never quite sat right with me and of course as I grew older I realised that it was because it was a Libertarian fantasy rather than the countercultural story it was frequently mistaken for. As a sidebar, for a long time I genuinely thought that Libertarianism was a kind of literary in-joke amongst American SF writers. It never occurred to me that people might actually believe this was a sensible political philosophy that could be applied in real life and I was utterly gobsmacked when I realised that people actually voted for this kind of thing.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, I think many people miss the Randian side.

[@leakybootpress9699]

Another good video, Steve! You're pretty near complete interesting of books. There's the Gregg Press volume, which someone else mentions in their comment, "Torturing Mr Amberwell" (Cheap Street) and "Meca/Metal" (forgotten the publisher's name and can't be bothered to get it off my shelves). Then there's "The Silver Pillow" (Ziesing, readily available for not very much). The one you must give to me, as a demonstration of fealty, is "On SF", because I don't have that one.

[@slurmcarey3069]

Thank you for this. I listened to bookpilled review echo round his bones. But I knew I had to come here for more in depth course in Disch. I will be getting his books.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, I noticed this morning that Matt covered some Disch- Richard at Vintage SF has been working his way through the early novels too over the months since he started his channel. For me, it's joyful to return to Disch, as I read all his early work in the 1980s and you may have noticed I've been reviewing the odd later book in the last year. It's great to see more people reading him, he was very special.

[@slurmcarey3069]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you to you and Matt for shining the light on him. I am looking forward to reading his work.

[@keithdixon6595]

Angoulême is one of my all time favourite short stories.

[@MrTree818]

I have a mass-market of The Man Who Had No Idea! I haven’t read it yet, but it has an amazing cover

[@MindApe]

Fantastic run through and a gorgeous collection. After reading The Genocides and Camp Concentration on your recommendation, I am now a committed Disch-head. To a child of the 80s like me, the Brave Little Toaster is iconic! There was always something scary about it, so it makes total sense that Disch wrote it. It's also through your channel that I realized one of my favourite childhood books The Auk, The Dodo, and The Oryx was by Robert Silverberg. Conceptual breakthrough achieved...

[@Castabulan]

I have the mass market paperbacks of Fundamental Disch, Getting Into Death and other stories, The Man Who Had No Idea, On Wings of a Song. Here in the States.

[@danieldelvalle5004]

I want to add to my previous comment that I really identify quite a lot with Disch's worldview, especially where it relates to Catholicism. I was raised in the Catholic Church. I went through 12 years of Catholic schooling, or should I say it went through me, suffering a lot of physical and mental abuse. So I can relate to where Disch is coming from, and look forward to a deep dive into his work. I've already finished The Genocides. It fried my brain.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, Scott Bradfield was the critic who first drew my attention to this, as I hadn't noticed it as I was yet to read the Minnesota Supernatural quartet, but once you start, it's obvious....thanks for your comment, Dan. If you ever read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, you become aware of the huge harm organised religion has caused across history....

[@severianconciliator1862]

On Wings of Song was included in Harold Bloom’s Western Canon.

[@meesalikeu]

for the record 334 is not a housing project per wiki, rather its an actual small apt building where disch lived in the east village in manhattan -- its still there -- 334 east 11st street. also, disch was always popular in the usa, at least known with the public. his paperbacks were everywhere back in those 1960s-70s days. these days its another story of course, although a few are still in print as i see the new versions occasionally.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I think I'm misusing 'project' here as it's not a term we use in the UK, my bad. I'm well aware of the direct connection to Disch.

[@tragicslip]

some absolutely beautiful hardbacks in this video. even better overview of the author, thank you!

[@paulcampbell6003]

Another fabulous author overview! 😁👍 I've read _Camp Concentration, 334, On Wings of Song_ quite a number of years ago - all great novels and all very different. I have the *Supernatural Minnesota* series reprinted in a lovely trade paperback matching set 15yrs ago by the University of Minnesota Press, each with an introduction by the likes of John Clute and Elizabeth Hand. I have them displayed in a homemade slipcase! Also, I've got all of his '60s and '70s novels and collections in Panther paperback. Finally I have the Bantam edition of _Fundamental Disch_ , which was a paperback original. The Gollancz hardcover cuts 30pgs of bonus appendix material.

[@stevenmichalkow]

Been starting to get into Disch myself (thanks to you for helping push that along). An embarrassment of riches in terms of where to start, but I'm likely going to start with One Hundred and Two H-Bombs and go from there. I do have The Man Who Had No Idea, Getting into death and other stories, MD, The Priest, The Business Man, Fun with Your New Head, and the triple combo book of The Genocides, Puppies of Terra, and Echo Round His Bones all ready to go after....so you know...no pressure. We don't go off half cocked here.

[@niriop]

I loved The M.D. when I read it a few years ago. It’s one of those odd but fascinating combinations of supernatural horror and dystopian SF (sort of like in Thomas Ligotti’s later work). There’s a wonderful scene in the middle wherein a character is reflecting on how perfect and loving everything in his life is…and you just know it’s all going to come crashing down in the worst way possible (and it does, hideously).

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

That will be my next TMD read, I'm thinking of picking it up later today, funnily enough. When my reading slumps, he pulls me up I find.

[@niriop]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal By no means perfect, but a great read. I promise enjoyment.

[@athoszubiaur2144]

what a great video. thank you for your insights

[@rickkearn7100]

I've got that Ace "double" with Le Guin on the other side! I grabbed it, last second, at the annual used book sale by the historical society in my hometown about, oh, 15 years ago and always meant to read it, but had completely forgotten about it until seeing this post. I always discover something good when I watch the Outlaw Bookseller channel. I'm going to go dig that out (hope I can find it) and read the TMD side, as I realized I've not read anything of his (to my knowledge, that is). You are very gracious to mention your YT peers' channels, Stephen, and you mentioned Richard Rempel of Vintage SF. Coincidentally, I've only recently (in the past week or so) discovered his channel in random fashion and like it so far. However, yours still reigns supreme IMHO. :) Cheers.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yeah, Richard is a nice guy- he often mentions me as does Matt Dafoe (Science Fiction Reads) and of course Jon at Sci-Fi Scavenger, a collaborator of mine. Matt at Bookpilled gave me my first big shout, so we're friends for life- we're pretty much on the same page. Kenny RH mentions me...loads of people do...I think even Moid mentioned me in his comment replies once (such honours). We SF fanas have to stick together!

[@rickkearn7100]

It's so gratifying and hopeful to see you blokes pooling your resources, OB. I am duly encouraged. But your dedication and integrity drive the whole thing, in my humble opinion and, yes, Bookpilled is the original source of connecting viewers, such as I, to your channel. So glad he did. He's a pip, that one. So talented and inspired. I thank for your gracious engagement and discussion with your viewers. It really is top shelf to do so, in a landscape where things like "Mr. Beast" rule the day. Not to disparage him simply because he had the wherewithal to hack the algorithm. I just hate the premise, not the creator. You rock, of course, as do your peers. Hence my limited subscriptions to you folks who faithfully celebrate SF, SFF and fiction in general. No small task. Cheers! @@outlawbookselleroriginal

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@rickkearn7100 Yes, Matt is the man, we've developed a good rapport and are hoping to meet up and collab one day. Not sure who you mean when you say 'The Beast', though? Thanks as ever, old chum!

[@rickkearn7100]

My bad; Mr. Beast is a YT phenom, highest monetized income of all channel creators.@@outlawbookselleroriginal

[@thekeywitness]

Thanks for the overview. I’ll definitely read more Disch in the future.

[@unstopitable]

I'm watching this after watching Richard's (VintageSF's) video on TD. I've been meaning to read more of him. I don't want his suicide to color my perception of his work, but it's hard for me to be objective about it/get past it (for personal reasons). What little I've read of him made me laugh--because of his gruesomeness and cruelty. In a weird way, the bleakness and darkness of the humor made me think of Naked Lunch. His book reviews and essays in the old Twilight Zone magazine shine with insight and wit.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Understandable. Tom's wit is very black- which I like- but his end does trouble me too. He was definitely influenced by WSB, as all the key British New Wave school were- and TD of course had that long period in the UK with New Worlds, so he counts as British in this respect. But the fluency and sophistication of his expression and insight are so far above the average SF writer I can do nothing but hold him up as an aspiration model for other writers.

[@circa1890]

Love Disch! Of course The Genocides, Camp Concentration, On Wings of Song, Neighboring Lives, The Prisoner, The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of, both Brave Little Toasters (the first movie is fun, too), and the beloved Clara Reeve. I recently inherited his horrors so I've not yet read those but look forward to it. Years ago, one could still gain access to his LiveJournal which was incredible to read. (I downloaded much of it, thankfully.) Thanks for bringing up Delaney's The American Shore..

[@JulesBurt]

Secret Agent was the USA name for Danger Man. Thanks Steve, another really enjoyable video👍

[@user-mc9sg9fw3w]

Very informative video! Looking forward to checking out his work.

[@DamnableReverend]

This was really great. I've been wondering about Disch in general. I really love 334, and some of the short stories I've read. You can definitely feel some of the angst and depression coming out sometimes in his work. that critical book on science fiction he wrote is not very well liked and I've never found it anywhere. Still would be interested to read more of his views though.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

If even 10% of the writers in the genre were as good as TMD, we'd be in ecstasy.

[@wmeisel]

I’m shocked that you never got into the Prisoner. It seems like it would have been tailor made for you. It’s worth mentioning that the episode of Danger Man called Colony Three shares many of the same themes as The Prisoner and is also worth watching…

[@ralphmarrone3130]

In the States there were mass paperback editions of The Man Who Had No Idea and Fundamental Disch. I have a trade paperback edition of Neighboring Lives.

[@barrrie]

Really, really enjoyed this. My TBR is ridiculous but Disch is now on it. Cheers.

[@ronaldwilliams2456]

Secret Agent in the U.S. With an American Theme song "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers!

[@keithdixon6595]

Ha, I have the same paperback editions of Puppies and Echo Round his Bones and also the same Hardback of Bad Moon Rising. I don't think they're in as good shape as yours, though! Looking forward to Disch year - in my top 3 SF writers.

[@ralphmarrone3130]

My sons and I watched The Brave Little Toaster a million times. I love that children’s movie.

[@ralphmarrone3130]

The cover of the Avon paperback of 334 was more on point.

[@ralphmarrone3130]

PKD also leveled similar charges against Stanislaw Lem!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, well documented

[@paulcampbell6003]

Re: anthologies. I picked up the UK Arrow paperback edition of _The Ruins of Earth_ late last year in the wild. Alas, I will have to content myself with this alone: of the half dozen or so anthologies that Disch edited, this is the ONLY ONE which ever had a paperback release in the UK. Even in the US only two of them, I believe, had paperback editions. 😢

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, in retrospect it's only 'Ruins' I ever see in paper...

[@paulcampbell6003]

I have those very same Panther paperback editions you show at the start of the video! 😍 All three of them in great condition! 👍

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Panther stalks the serious devotee....

[@ralphmarrone3130]

The Business Man and The MD are my favorite Disch horror books, but The Sub was the funniest.

[@OXyShow]

Thanks Dad!

[@keithdixon6595]

I had an old paperback of Camp C. but must have given it away - black cover, yellow text, as I recall. So I recently bought it again, in the paperback edition you show here. I also have the bulldozer edition of Under Compulsion, the paperback of The Prisoner and the same edition of 334. So, can I be your friend? 😂

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I use to have that yellow/black Panther CC too, only parted with it last year, when I acquired my current Panther. It's all good stuff, right?!

[@keithdixon6595]

CC is brilliant, better than Flowers for Algernon imo, to which it bears some resemblance.

[@jbrichardson8891]

I plead guilty to not reading enough Disch.....my crime is I've only read 334 which was totally absorbing ....I promise to read more

[@ronaldwilliams2456]

The Man Wha Had No Idea did have a paperback edition in the United States. I used to own it.

[@GregSloman]

Thanks Steve. All the best.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers Greg, the ST makes all the difference to the channel!

[@AlienBigCat23]

My first Disch story was in the New Worlds antho back in the 80s (Picador?) -- any idea what it was? I dont have it to hand.. Great vlog, btw. The minerals are in the minutiae..

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Flamingo, not Picador-great book.

[@victorrodley9099]

Thanks!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Very, very kind of you, Victor-many thanks!

[@marktyrrell8892]

Just read The Businessman: A Tale of Terror. I loved it.

[@ralphmarrone3130]

Great book! Check out The MD next.

[@General_reader]

As a general rule, I always find the UK editions have better covers

[@stevenmichalkow]

In the UK covers, I see a lot more influence of surrealists like Magritte (which I always associate with Ballard covers), Polish surrealist movie posters, and a little M C Escher to boot

[@ralphmarrone3130]

I loved Beloved 😂😂😂😂

[@johnlaudenslager706]

👍👍

[@3choblast3r4]

I wonder why they would publish their gothic novel under a female penname. Because women are more likely to read it and they are more likely to pick up a female author? I mean if any man wrote some YA teen girl dystopia book today, they'd probably be better off publishing it under a female name lol.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

You're not wrong in your final statement!