Comments on: I Found the Fake Geek Girl… 24 Years Ago

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:44:06 +0000

Oh, yeah, I just finished that sequel, and it was weird how long ago it seemed. The author needs help, so he gets on a BBS that has a Usenet connection. World before Web! And he keeps typing in all caps, bad netiquette!

By: hapax

hapax — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:56:56 +0000

I loved that book when it first came out, for all the reasons Johanna mentioned.

Sure, all the characters were one-dimensional stereotypes, but they were *recognizable* stereotypes; and for heaven’s sake, I don’t recall ANYTHING that acknowledged the female fan earlier (well, Asimov had a couple in his short stories set at cons, but his stereotypes were even crueller than McCrumb’s)

ZOMBIES OF THE GENE POOL wasn’t nearly as interesting to me; the one thing I remember about it is that it had a very clever (and realistic!) twist concerning the use of the Internet in solving mysteries, that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

By: Geek girl updates from the past

Geek girl updates from the past — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:00:26 +0000

[...] By The Beat Leave a Comment TweetDept. of Geek Girls, real or fake: Johanna Draper Carlson finds a SF book from 24 years ago that predicted the kind of soul-stealing succubus that many fear wit a narrative involving a SF [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 19:51:08 +0000

It’s a favorite because I’d never seen anything like it when I first found it, something speaking about this kind of fandom behavior from a clear point of knowledge. Limited as the characterizations are, I wanted to visit this kind of event and meet these kinds of people.

By: T Campbell

T Campbell — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 16:15:14 +0000

Ugh, I loathed that book, for the exact reason you mention, Joanna… everyone seems like a one-dimensional stereotype designed to serve the author’s view of fandom, which I found abusive and shrill and parroted without any nuance whatsoever by “Marion” (sorta rhymes with “Sharyn.” That’s why she’s the only character with any depth: SHE’S THE AUTHOR).

It has been a while since I read it, but it was one of the books that motivated me to make sure I never wrote like that.

I can’t really see why you’d describe it as one of your favorites if “every character in it is a stereotype of some kind,” unless the sexism in that age of fandom was just so omnipresent, and the silence about it so complete, that anyone who addressed it in any way seemed like Jonathan Swift by comparison to other, more fawning fan portrayers.

I skimmed the sequel long enough to be fairly certain that it goes even further in its expressions of contempt. So take that how you will, I guess.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 17:48:46 +0000

Yeah, I’m looking forward to rereading the sequel soon, too. If I remember, it’s a parody of First Fandom, so I’m going to be trying to figure out which one is most like Julie Schwartz. :)

By: Brigid Alverson

Brigid Alverson — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:29:50 +0000

OMG Johanna, that brings back some memories! My husband gave me that book when we first met, 23 years ago, and I loved it — it was my introduction to sci-fi fandom. I’m going to dig it out this weekend and re-read it with your comments in mind.

We have the sequel, too — Zombies of the Gene Pool, IIRC.