[penguicon-general] Fannish Material To Read

[Matt Arnold]

Two people have mentioned Bimbos Of The Death Sun. When I finally got
a copy of that and read it, I didn't enjoy it. I was surprised that it
was frequently recommended, given that the author has no love of
fandom whatsoever. It is not affectionate mockery. It's a hostile
message to stay away from conventions, those who attend them, and
those who run them. I tried to interpret it more charitably, but could
find no redeeming qualities in the events or people depicted. Every
fannish activity the characters in that book participated in was a
human train wreck. The author attributed their motivation to
participate entirely to their personality flaws, which were not
depicted sympathetically at any point. Far from being a core
experience of fandom, I found its perspective to be outside my
experience. If BotDS is a good intro to fandom, stay away from that
fandom.

-Matt


On 12/20/06, Molly de Blanc <majorarcanna at gmail.com> wrote:
> I am a second generation fan. So I will say that before my father went to
> cons, he got fanzines and even wrote a Star Trek fanfic in his high school
> sci fi-gaming club. Personally, being a Fan is being fanatical about science
> fiction and fantasy--which is, in my opinion, the truest sense of the
> definition. This can be games, TV shows, books, movies, or uhh...thereäs
> more, Iäm sure of it. But hey, what do I know? I lack a PhD in applied
> cultural anthropology!
>
> I think _Bimbos of the Death Sun_ is a real good intro, personally. I'd also
> recommend *This is Otakudom* to understand how anime fandom works. It also
> gives a scarily accurate depiction of a con going experience. _Fans_ is an
> EXCELLENT webcomic about, well, fans.
>
> And, at this point, I shall direct all of you to my documentary proposal
> _What is a Fan_? once I have a half-decent keyboard again.
>
>
> On 12/19/06, Rob Landley <rob at landley.net> wrote:
> > On Monday 18 December 2006 10:46 pm, Catherine Olanich Raymond wrote:
> > > On Monday 18 December 2006 12:32 am, Seth Breidbart wrote:
> > > > "Matt Arnold" <matt.mattarn at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > You're right, fandom is about attending cons, pure and simple.
> > > >
> > > > No, *convention fandom* is about attending cons.
> > > >
> > > > Fanzine fandom is where it all started.
> > >
> > > Gee.  And here I thought the books were where it all started.  :-)
> However,
> > > Seth, you've been in fandom longer than I have, so I'll defer to your
> > > superior knowledge of the historic background.
> >
> > Somebody pointed me to Charles Dickens fanfic, contemporary with the
> > originals.  And his bestseller (A Christmas Carol) is, technically
> speaking,
> > a supernatural time travel thriller.  (However, the fanfic I saw wasn't in
> > anything like a fanzine.)
> >
> > Rob
> > --
> > "Perfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but
> > when there is no longer anything to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> m.j .
> ---------
> "Some people experiment with drugs in college; I'm experimenting with
> postmodernism.
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