'Dhalgren' is the kind of book in which you can look for pretty much anything you want. I tried to put as much into it as I could at the time. Samuel R. Delany bookdhalgrenkind Change image and share on social
From 1968 on, I was pretty much the black, gay SF writer. Samuel R. Delany blackgaypretty Change image and share on social
The reason for privacy is not so that people will not know you go to the bathroom. It's to allow certain things to go on that you don't want other people to know about, when all is said and done. But the things I don't want other people to know about are not my sex life. Samuel R. Delany bathroomlifepeople share on social
It looks like the writer is telling you a story. What the writer is actually doing, however, is using words to evoke a series of micromemories from your own experience that inmix, join, and connect in your mind in an order the writer controls, so that, in effect, you have a sustained memory of something that never happened to you. Samuel R. Delany connectcontroleffect share on social
My family trained me to be polite to people I had just met, and that included strangers. You speak when you're spoken to. You look people in the eye when they address you and when you address them back. Samuel R. Delany addressbackeye share on social
A number of things in 'Dhalgren' are just meant to function as mysteries. They're mysteries when the book begins, and they're mysteries when the book ends. Samuel R. Delany beginbookdhalgren Change image and share on social
I think of myself as a very lazy writer, though other people see it differently. Samuel R. Delany differentlylazypeople Change image and share on social
Science fiction isn't just thinking about the world out there. It's also thinking about how that world might be - a particularly important exercise for those who are oppressed, because if they're going to change the world we live in, they - and all of us - have to be able to think about a world that works differently. Samuel R. Delany changedifferentlyexercise share on social
How we treat our invalids - our mad, our physically or mentally compromised family members - does tell you something about who we are politically, historically, culturally. Samuel R. Delany compromiseculturallyfamily Change image and share on social
All too often, when creative people pick out someone else's creative work as an inspiration, what they end up with is very, very far from the original. Samuel R. Delany creativeendinspiration Change image and share on social