172:, Dynamite Haskell, and his nineteen-year-old son and helper, Morgan Haskell. Eric and Morgan become life partners, and the novel follows them—through job changes (from garbage men, to managing a pornographic theater, to handymen), changes of friends, and changes of address (from a cabin in the Dump, to an apartment over the movie theater, to another cabin out on Gilead, a nearby island)—into the twilight of their years. Though it does move many decades into the future and off-handedly mentions fictional future events and technologies, much of the novel does not feel like far future
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structurally reflecting the human experience of time...but I wondered occasionally, especially in the novel’s first half, whether the story could not have been told in fewer words." Parker criticized what he saw as a lack of editorial oversight, citing as an example a passage describing toastmaking that had little to do with the scene occurring around it but also considering the literary worth of its prose and wondering if it helped the reader relate to "the feeling of the slowness of time."
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Eric is told a story by Bill Bottom, a neighbor of his. Bill, like Arnold, ran away from a situation that had the potential for great happiness. He concludes by asking Eric to promise that when he is presented with his own choice—and, Bill insists, that moment will come—to choose happiness, no matter
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there are at least three themes which are utterly taboo as far as most
American publishers are concerned. The two others are: a Negro-White marriage which is a complete and glorious success resulting in lots of children and grandchildren; and the total atheist who lives a happy and useful life, and
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Edward Parker of Lambda
Literary stated that "Time is an important theme throughout the book. Delany has constructed the story so that time passes slowly in the beginning—the whole first half of the book covers only five of the novel’s seventy years—and then accelerates as the main characters age,
152:, on July 6, 2007, where we meet Eric Jeffers some six days before his seventeenth birthday. Eric is living with his adoptive father, Mike. The story follows Eric as he goes to live with his mother, Barbara, in the fictive "
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Beginning relatively early in Eric's life (while he is still seventeen in the story), he repeatedly expresses a desire to do good things for other people. This is a thematic element that spans the novel.
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we learn that in his youth, Arnold Hawley, the novel's protagonist, ran away in fear from a situation that would likely have changed the course of his life. Early in
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are love, relationships, and the consequences—both good and bad—of taking that chance and making the choice to go after what makes you happy.
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stated that "it is the best
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called it "a book worthy of his career full of masterpieces — and a book that no one else could have written."
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Delany has said, in an interview with
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County" on the
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community for black gay men in a neighborhood called the Dump. Eric takes a job with the local
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by a cross-dressing one-time theology student, Mama Grace. Eric agrees to read
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In recent interviews, Delany has stated that it is his design to have
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Delany, Samuel R. (2007). "In the Valley of the Nest of
Spiders".
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Dirt for Art's Sake: Books on Trial from Madame Bovary to Lolita
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straddle the genera realism, science fiction, and pornography.
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three times. It shapes and reflects his actions and attitudes.
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has number of highly sexually explicit scenes, of many sorts.
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how afraid he might be to take that path. The major themes of
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from the original on 2021-12-21 – via www.youtube.com.
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280:in sharp contrast, celebrates companionship,
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262:can also be viewed as a companion piece to
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574:"Paul Di Filippo reviews Samuel R. Delany"
294:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders,
278:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders,
176:. It ends somewhere between 2070 and '80.
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990:The Complete Nebula Award-Winning Fiction
813:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
380:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
352:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
345:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
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260:Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders
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375:Literary significance and criticism
308:There is also a very strong tie to
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272:centers on themes of loneliness,
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1164:Novels set in Atlanta
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1000:Driftglass/Starshards
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903:Flight from Nevèrÿon
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199:possibly contains
164:has established a
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883:Tales of Nevèrÿon
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576:. April 22, 2012.
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290:Dark Reflections,
274:sexual repression
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66:Magnus Books
961:Collections
773:The Mad Man
683:Empire Star
442:Black Clock
328:The Mad Man
170:garbage man
130:Black Clock
1123:Categories
1036:Nonfiction
970:Driftglass
448:: 116–134.
428:References
208:improve it
133:magazine.
405:Jo Walton
212:verifying
63:Publisher
952:" (1968)
943:" (1967)
733:Dhalgren
693:Babel-17
496:Archived
401:magazine
224:May 2010
154:Runcible
55:Language
932:Stories
793:Phallos
723:Equinox
593:Tor.com
340:Equinox
286:freedom
206:Please
166:utopian
150:Georgia
146:Atlanta
58:English
1108:(2000)
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666:(1962)
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363:Lolita
337:, and
320:Ethica
315:Ethica
180:Themes
160:, gay
37:Author
399:Locus
325:Like
158:black
89:Pages
783:Hogg
713:Nova
523:ISBN
334:Hogg
282:love
98:ISBN
519:191
210:by
92:872
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