This book looks cool: The DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF : HOW SCIENCE FICTION CONQUERED THE WORLD. I came across mention of it in that Buffy article. Apparently, one of the things the author, Thomas Disch, talks about is why & how L. Ron Hubbard was the only sci-fi author to have been the father also of a religion. And he asks why it couldn’t have been somebody more intriguing, like Philip K. Dick.

But it’s about more than just that though. Here’s a review of the book elsewhere. Also, I found that Google has an excerpt from it online. It seems that Google has a new project in the works, called Google Print, wherein they are experimenting with putting books and portions of books online, so that they can be added to the world’s searchable knowledge. A fantastic idea.

Here’s the opening paragraph of that book:

America is a nation of liars, and for that reason science fiction has a special claim to be our national literature, as the art form best adapted to telling the lies we like to hear and to pretend we believe.