The Wall of America

Surely one of the saddest events of the past year for fiction lovers was the announcement of the untimely death of Thomas M. Disch on July 4 by his own hand. As an influential author (CAMP CONCENTRATION, 334 and others) and critic/essayist, Disch exemplified what science fiction could achieve when freed of its genre expectations and stereotypes.

THE WALL OF AMERICA collects 19 stories published over the last 24 years in science-fiction magazines, a few anthologies and a smattering of mainstream publications. It is far from a hoped for “best of” collection, and suffers from a recurrent theme running through several similar entries. But it is still well worth reading for the exquisite and varied writing in even the weaker entries.

Oddly, two of the best stories are closer to horror than science fiction. The opening story, “The White Man,” depicts a Somali immigrant schoolgirl who is convinced that vampires are living in her neighborhood. Then there is “The Owl and the Pussycat,” which seems at first to be told from the perspective of family pets. But as the story continues, the shocking identity and intention of the real protagonist is skillfully revealed in what is truly one of Disch’s finest stories.

That recurrent theme mentioned above is the world of art and the artist, and is presented in seven of the stories. In the title tale, an imagined security wall stretching between the U.S. and Canada borders becomes one of the world’s largest art galleries. “Ringtime” has the experiences and sensations of individuals encoded in special rings they wear, which are collected and sold as works of art. “Canned Goods” and “Painting Eggplants” deal with painters and their strained relationships with buyers and sellers.

The world of publishing and authors is also depicted, first in “The Abduction of Bunny Steiner, or A Shameless Lie,” where a desperate writer reluctantly produces a fabricated piece of UFO non-fiction for guaranteed sales and suffers riotous results, and then in “The Man Who Read a Book,” which presents a future of book publishing and promotion all too chillingly possible. As good as these (and a few other similar stories) sometimes are, the similarity of the theme make them seem unfortunately redundant.

Two other notable stories deal with religion. “Three Chronicles of Xglotl and Rwang” imagines an omniscient deity as a spoiled diva. “Torah, Torah, Torah: Three Bible Tales for the Third Millennium” is a satiric consideration of key Biblical figures, including a devastating account of Sarah trying to justify Abraham’s case of near child abuse.

The remaining stories vary in quality from cleaver and evocative to strained concepts and disappointing one-liner endings, yet each is written in a style that never demeans or underestimates the intelligence of the reader. Such was Disch’s talent that even the weakest story obliges you to read to the very end in order to savor his clarity of character, poetic descriptions, and often the breadth of his imagination.

And it is those qualities of Disch’s writing that make THE WALL OF AMERICA notable, for all its faults. It remains to be seen if there are more uncollected stories to be published, or if this is the final presentation of his shorter fiction. Whatever the case, we all must accept the sad fact that what was once his body of work is now his legacy, and that we didn’t cherish him enough while we could. —Alan Cranis

Buy it at Amazon.

Related posts:

1. Science Fiction America: Essays on SF Cinema
2. The Wall
3. Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion: New Stories About Cops, Criminals, and the Chase
4. Prime Books announces BEST OF genre anthologies
5. Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein