Comprehensive information and links about Gene Wolfe

Gene Wolfe (born May 7, 1931Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusion-rich prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, which he adopted after marrying a Catholic. He is a prolific short story writer as well as a novelist, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and World Fantasy Award multiple times.

Wolfe fought in the Korean War, and after returning to the United States became an industrial engineer. For many years he edited the engineering review , before retiring to write full-time. One little-known engineering achievement of Wolfe's is a contribution to the development of the mass production machine used to make Pringles potato chips, specifically the part which cooks the chips.[1] He now lives in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

table series), the story details the life of Severian, an apprentice torturer, as he rises to power. The work is composed of the novels (1987), wraps up some loose ends but is generally considered a separate work. Several Wolfe essays about the writing of (1982; the title refers to a misprint of the fourth book's title in Locus magazine).

In the 1990s, Wolfe published two more works in the same universe as (1996). These books follow the priest of a small parish as he becomes wrapped up in political intrigue and revolution in his city-state. Wolfe then wrote a sequel of sorts, ), generally thought to be his most popular writing, are often collectively referred to as the "Solar Cycle".

Wolfe has also written many stand-alone books. Two held in particularly high esteem are is the seemingly-rambling narrative of Alden Dennis Weer, a man of many secrets who reviews his life under rather mysterious circumstances. is either a collection of three novellas, or a novel in three parts, dealing with colonialism, memory, and the nature of personal identity. The first story, which gives the book its name, was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella.

Wolfe frequently creates an unreliable narrator to tell his stories. Sometimes this is a person who is simply naïve (, who forgets everything within 24 hours).

Some readers have found Wolfe's use of the unreliable narrator confusing, on the grounds that, if the reader cannot trust the narrator, there is no way to determine the "meaning" of the text. Others find that, while it requires more work on the part of the reader, this trope creates a wider and deeper space of possible meaning for the reader to discover and explore. Thus, Wolfe's texts encourage multiple readings. Wolfe himself has said, in a letter to Neil Gaiman (Gaiman 2002): "My definition of good literature is that which can be read by an educated reader, and reread with increased pleasure."

Importance

Although not a best-selling author, Wolfe is extremely highly regarded by critics and fellow writers, and considered by many to be one of the best living science fiction authors. Indeed, he has sometimes been called the best living American writer regardless of genre. Award-winning science fiction author Michael Swanwick has said: "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is no who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning.".

Among others, writers Neil Gaiman and Patrick O'Leary have credited Wolfe for inspiration. O'Leary has said: "Forget 'Speculative Fiction'. Gene Wolfe is the best writer alive. Period. And as Wolfe once said, 'All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.' No comparison. No – comes close to what this artist does."

Wolfe's fans regard him with considerable dedication, and one Internet mailing list dedicated to his works has amassed over six years and thousands of pages of discussion and explication. Similarly, much analysis and exegesis has been published in fanzine and small-press form (e. g. (1980) (Not an error but a literary joke; the title story is "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories". Among others, the collection also includes "The Doctor of Death Island" and "The Death of Doctor Island", winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novella.)