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Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American
science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) * Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Ab ...
and poet. He won the
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...
for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine
Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...
nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, a
Rhysling Award __NOTOC__ The Rhysling Awards are an annual award given for the best science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem of the year. Unlike most literary awards, which are named for the creator of the award, the subject of the award, or a noted member of t ...
, and two
Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. ...
s, among others. In the 1960s, his work began appearing in science-fiction magazines. His critically acclaimed science fiction novels, ''
The Genocides ''The Genocides'' is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965. Plot summary ''The Genocides'' describes the genocide of humans by aliens who seed Earth with ...
'', ''
Camp Concentration ''Camp Concentration'' is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. After being serialized in '' New Worlds'' in 1967, it was published by Hart-Davis in the UK in 1968 and by Doubleday in the US in 1969. Translations have ...
'' and '' 334'' are major contributions to the New Wave science fiction movement. In 1996, his book ''The Castle of Indolence: On Poetry, Poets, and Poetasters'' was nominated for the
National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of ''The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World'' (1998, ) is an overview of the interactions between science fiction and the real world, written by Thomas M. Disch, an American author in the field. It is neither a histor ...
'', a meditation on the impact of science fiction on our culture, as well as the
Michael Braude Award for Light Verse The Michael Braude Award for Light Verse is a biennial award given for light verse in the English language, regardless of the author's nationality. It is presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is accompanied by a $5,000 payment. ...
. Among his other nonfiction work, he wrote theatre and opera criticism for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', and other periodicals. He published several volumes of poetry as Tom Disch. Following an extended period of depression after the death in 2005 of his life-partner, Charles Naylor, Disch stopped writing almost entirely, except for poetry and blog entries – although he did produce two novellas. Disch
committed suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...
by gunshot on July 4, 2008 in his apartment in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City. Naylor and Disch are buried alongside each other at Saint Johns Episcopal Church Columbarium,
Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...
. His last book, ''The Word of God'', which was written shortly before Naylor died, had just been published a few days before Disch's death. His last short story collection, ''The Wall of America'', Disch's first in over 25 years, was published posthumously, several months later.


Early life

Disch was born in
Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...
, Iowa, on February 2, 1940. Because of a
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...
epidemic in 1946, his mother Helen home-schooled him for a year. As a result, he skipped from
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
to second grade. Disch's first formal education was at
Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
s; which is evidenced in some of his works which contain scathing criticisms of the Catholic Church. The family moved in 1953 to St. Paul in
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
, rejoining both pairs of grandparents, where Disch attended both public and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
schools."Biographical note" in Disch, Thomas M. '' The Wall of America''. San Francisco: Tachyon, 2008. , pp. 244–245. In the Saint Paul public schools, Disch discovered his long-term loves of science fiction, drama, and poetry. He describes poetry as his stepping-stone to the literary world. A teacher at St. Paul Central, Jeannette Cochran, assigned 100 lines of poetry to be memorized; Disch wound up memorizing ten times as much. His early fascination continued to influence his work with poetic form and the direction of his criticism. After graduating from high school in 1957, he worked a summer job as a trainee steel
draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...
, just one of the many jobs on his path to becoming a writer. Saving enough to move to New York City at the age of 17, he found a
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
apartment and began to cast his energies in many directions. He worked as an extra at the Metropolitan Opera House in productions of ''
Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
'' for the
Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to internat ...
, ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
'' for the
Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
, and ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; Köchel catalogue, K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The rake (stock character), Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Pon ...
'', ''
Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramati ...
'' and others for the Met.Disch, Thomas M. ''The Word of God''. San Francisco: Tachyon, 2008, p.68-69. He found work at a bookstore, then at a newspaper. At the age of 18, a penniless, friendless teenager, he attempted suicide by gas oven, but survived due to not having enough money to pay the gas bill. Later that year, he enlisted in the army. Disch's incompatibility with the armed forces quickly resulted in a nearly three-month commitment to a
mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
. After his discharge, Disch returned to New York and continued to pursue the arts in his own indirect way. He worked, again, in bookstores, and as a copywriter. Some of these jobs later paid off; working as a cloak room attendant in New York theater culture allowed him to both pursue his lifelong love of drama and led to work as a reviewer of staged drama. Eventually, he got another job with an insurance company and went to school. A brief flirtation with architecture led him to apply to
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique ...
, where he was told he got the highest score ever on their entrance exam, but dropped out after a few weeks. He then went to night school at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
(NYU), where classes on novella writing and
utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...
fiction developed his tastes for some of the common forms and topics of science fiction. In May 1962, he decided to write a short story instead of studying for his midterm exams. He sold the story, "The Double Timer", for $112.50, to the magazine ''
Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...
''. Having begun his literary career, he did not return to NYU but rather took another series of odd jobs such as
bank teller A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. ...
,
mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...
assistant, and copy editor – all of which served to fuel what he referred to as his night-time "writing habit". Over the next few years he wrote more science fiction stories, but also branched out into poetry; his first published poem, "Echo and Narcissus", appeared in the ''
Minnesota Review ''The Minnesota Review'' is a literary magazine covering literary and cultural studies which places a special emphasis on politically engaged criticism, fiction, and poetry. Issues are often "themed," recent issues examining the nature of acade ...
s Summer 1964 issue.


Career

Disch entered the field of science fiction at a turning point, as the
pulp adventure Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In cont ...
stories of its older style began to be challenged by a more serious, darker style. Rather than trying to compete with mainstream writers on the New York literary scene, Disch published work in science fiction and literary magazines, and began to speak with a new voice. His first novel, ''
The Genocides ''The Genocides'' is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965. Plot summary ''The Genocides'' describes the genocide of humans by aliens who seed Earth with ...
'', appeared in 1965;
Brian W. Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for o ...
singled it out for praise in a long review in ''SF Impulse''. Much of his early science fiction was published in English author
Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...
's New Wave magazine, '' New Worlds'', including his sixth novel ''
Camp Concentration ''Camp Concentration'' is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. After being serialized in '' New Worlds'' in 1967, it was published by Hart-Davis in the UK in 1968 and by Doubleday in the US in 1969. Translations have ...
'' in two installments. Disch traveled widely and lived in England, Spain, Rome, and Mexico. In spite of this, he remained a New Yorker for the last twenty years of his life, keeping a long-time New York residence overlooking Union Square. He said that "a city like New York, to my mind, is the whole world." Writing had become the dominant focus of his life. Disch described his personal transformation from dilettante to "someone who knows what he wants to do and is so busy doing it that he doesn't have much time for anything else." After ''The Genocides'', he wrote ''
Camp Concentration ''Camp Concentration'' is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. After being serialized in '' New Worlds'' in 1967, it was published by Hart-Davis in the UK in 1968 and by Doubleday in the US in 1969. Translations have ...
'' and '' 334''. More books followed, including science fiction novels and stories,
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
works, criticism, plays, a
libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...
for an opera of ''
Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'', prose and verse children's books such as ''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', and ten poetry collections. In the 1980s, he moved from science fiction to horror with a quartet set in Minneapolis: '' The Businessman'', ''The M.D.'', ''The Priest'', and ''The Sub''. His writing includes substantial periodical work, such as regular book and theater reviews for ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', ''
The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...
'', '' Harper's'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', ''The New York Times'', the ''Times Literary Supplement'', and ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
''. Recognition from his award-winning books led to a year as "artist-in-residence" at the
College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...
. During his long and varied career, Disch found his way into other forms and genres. As a fiction writer and a poet, Disch felt typecast by his science fiction roots. "I have a class theory of literature. I come from the wrong neighborhood to sell to ''The New Yorker''. No matter how good I am as an artist, they always can smell where I come from." Though Disch was an admirer of and was friends with the author Philip K. Dick, Dick would write an infamous paranoid letter to the FBI in October 1972 that denounced Disch and suggested that there were coded messages, prompted by a covert organization, in Disch's novel ''Camp Concentration''. Disch was unaware and he would go on to champion the
Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...
. In his final novel, however, ''The Word of God'', Disch got his revenge on Dick, with a story in which Dick is dead and living in
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, unable to write because of
writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
. In return for a taste of human blood, which will unlock his ability to write, he makes a deal to go back in time and kill Disch's father, so that Disch will never be born, and at the same time to kill
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
and thereby to ensure that
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
wins
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Disch also referred to Dick in a blog post stating "May he rot in hell, and may his royalties corrupt his heirs to the seventh generation." He shared his Manhattan apartment and a house in Barryville, New York, with his partner of three decades, poet and fiction writer Charles Naylor. Although he was
out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...
as a gay man after 1968 and this facet of his life was occasionally foregrounded in his work (most notably in his poetry and ''On Wings of Song''), he did not try to write to a particular community: "I'm gay myself, but I don't write 'gay' literature." He rarely mentioned his sexuality in interviews, though he was interviewed by the Canadian gay periodical '' The Body Politic'' in 1981. After Naylor's death in 2005, Disch had to abandon the house, as well as fight attempts to evict him from his
rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price cont ...
led apartment, and he became steadily more depressed. He wrote on a
LiveJournal LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, a ...
account from April 2006 until his death (he killed himself by gunshot), in which he posted poetry and journal entries. Shortly before Disch's death, in September and October 2007 literary critic Peter Swirski conducted email interviews with Disch concerning his novels ''The M.D. A Horror Story'' and ''334''. Excerpts from these exchanges were published in Swirski's 2010 study ''Literature, Analytically Speaking'' – Chapter 7 is mostly on ''The M.D.'' – with Disch responding to questions with wit and irony. Disch was an outspoken atheist as well as a satirist; his last novel '' The Word of God'' was published by Tachyon Publications in the summer of 2008. His last published work, the posthumous story collection ''The Wall of America'', contains speculative fiction from the last half of Disch's career. Most of his literary short fiction was not collected after 1976 (although a story from ''The Hudson Review'' was collected in 2008). Right up to the end of his life, he maintained an active blog notable for its wit.


Computer game design

In 1986, Disch collaborated with
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
software company Cognetics Corporation and games publisher
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
to create the
interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
text adventure '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
''
Amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...
'', which could be played on the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...
,
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
or
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
computers. The title, based on technology pioneered by Cognetics' Charles Kreitzberg, was produced by Don Daglow and programmed by Kevin Bentley. It showcased Disch's vivid writing, a stark contrast to other game-programmer-written text adventures of the time, and his passion for the energy of the city of New York. Although the text adventure format was dying by the time ''Amnesia'' was released and it enjoyed limited success, the game pioneered ideas that would later become popular in game design by modeling the entire Manhattan street map south of 110th St. and allowing the player to visit any street corner in that part of the city in their quest to advance the story. Although the limited
floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined ...
capacity of the 1980s computers caused much of Disch's original text about the city to be cut, many Manhattan sites and people were described with unique loving distortion through the Disch lens. David Lehman singled out "Amnesia" for praise in his essay "You Are What You Read" in Newsweek (January 12, 1987). In an interview Lehman asked Disch about the origin of "Amnesia." "Please don't say 'I forget'," Lehman said. "It's true," Disch replied. "I forget my own life all the time, so amnesia was a natural subject for me."


Theater

Disch was also known for his work in the theater, both as the critic for ''The Nation'', from 1987 to 1993, and as writer of two performance works, his meta-historical stage adaptation of ''Ben-Hur'' and his controversial verse monologue/poem, ''The Cardinal Detoxes''. Both plays were commissioned and presented by Jeff Cohen and the RAPP Arts Center in New York's Alphabet City. ''Ben-Hur'' not only told the story of the famous Biblical novel, but delved into the life and times of its author, the proto-American General
Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...
. Disch proffers the theory that Wallace penned ''Ben-Hur'', in part, to assuage his guilt over his part in the execution of
Mary Surratt Mary Elizabeth Jenkins SurrattCashin, p. 287.Steers, 2010, p. 516. (1820 or May 1823 – July 7, 1865) was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassi ...
. In its world-premiere performance at the Peabody Conservatory in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
in 1989, it was chosen as a Critics' Choice by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine. ''The Cardinal Detoxes'' had a simple conceit: a Catholic Bishop has committed vehicular homicide while driving intoxicated and is imprisoned in a monastic "drying tank" where he is sure he is being bugged by the higher-ups. So he attempts to negotiate his release by black-mailing the Church with all of its dirty secrets, big and small. The play was performed at RAPP, located in the former Most Holy Redeemer School, and drew a
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...
order from the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. An article written by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
Mervyn Rothstein got picked up around the world on the AP wire and the play became one of the most notable censorship controversies of the 1990s. After the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
declined to take the case, Disch and RAPP were represented by
William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civi ...
and
Ron Kuby Ronald L. Kuby (born July 31, 1956) is an American criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host and television commentator. He has also hosted radio programs on WABC Radio in New York and Air America radio. Kuby currently ...
, and the Archdiocese lost in court. Their response was to lock the theater out of their building and have the Director jailed. Fortunately, ''The Cardinal Detoxes'' became as well known for its literary merits as for its controversy. It was selected in the compilation ''Best American Poetry 1994'' and, again, in ''Best of The Best American Poetry 1988–1997''. In 1985, his short story "The Squirrel Cage", included in his book ''Fun With Your New Head'', was adapted for the stage by Robin Willoughby of Buffalo, New York. Music was composed by Tim Kloth. A single character is held captive by some unknown entity. Law enforcement? Foreign country? Aliens? Is he there for punishment, examination, or entertainment? The performer is surrounded on stage by an unseen and unheard (by him) circle of musicians who play in reaction to his musings.


Poetry

Disch's first published poems, though reaching print later – the first in 1964, though not collected until 1972 – were written alongside the stories and novels which made his name in the 1960s. Although he aimed his poetry at a different readership than his fiction – even simplifying his by-line from Thomas M. Disch to Tom Disch – both genres emerged from the same expanding mind and changing times. His poetry includes experiments within traditional forms, such as a collaborative
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...
cycle ''Highway Sandwiches'' with Marilyn Hacker and Charles Platt and ''
Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a '' kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a '' kigo'', or ...
s of an AmPart'', while others like ''The Dark Old House'' mix stricter and freer form. Like other poets, he often uses humor and
irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized int ...
in his poems. Disch's reputation as a poet was solidified by a 1989 midcareer retrospective collection, titled ''Yes, Let's''. A book of new poetry, ''Dark Verses & Light'', followed in 1991. In 1995 and 2002, Disch published two collections of poetry criticism. He continued to regularly publish poetry in magazines and journals such as ''Poetry'', ''Light'', ''Paris Review'', ''Partisan Review'', ''Parnassus: Poetry in Review'' and even ''Theology Today'' (perhaps an odd choice for a long-lapsed Catholic). Disch's poems were anthologized in four editions of ''The Best American Poetry'' --- those edited by John Ashbery, Jorie Graham, A. R. Ammons, and John Hollander. Disch published two collections of poetry criticism, ''The Castle of Indolence: On Poetry, Poets, and Poetasters'' and ''The Castle of Perseverance: Job Opportunities in Contemporary Poetry''. His poetry criticism focuses on what makes poetry work, what makes it popular, and how poetry can re-establish a place in modern popular culture. Near the end of his life he stopped submitting poetry to literary journals unless the journals asked for his contributions. He preferred to publish his poems in his LiveJournal account. In an interview just ten days before his death, Disch said, "I write poetry because I think it is the hardest thing I can do well. And so I simply enjoy the doing of it, as an equestrian enjoys spending time on a good horse. Poetry is my good horse."


Works


Novels

*''
The Genocides ''The Genocides'' is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965. Plot summary ''The Genocides'' describes the genocide of humans by aliens who seed Earth with ...
'', Berkley F1170 (1965), Panther (1968), Pocket (1979), Vintage (2000) *''The Puppies of Terra'' Panther (1978), Pocket (1980) (orig. pub. as ''Mankind Under the Leash', Ace G-597 (1966) *''The House That Fear Built'' (with
John Sladek John Thomas Sladek (December 15, 1937 – March 10, 2000) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels. Life and work Born in Waverly, Iowa, in 1937, Sladek was in England in the 1960s for the New Wave ...
, as Cassandra Knye), Paperback Library (1966) *'' Echo Round His Bones'', Berkley X1349 (1967), Hart-Davis (1969), Panther (1970), Pocket (1979) *''
Camp Concentration ''Camp Concentration'' is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch. After being serialized in '' New Worlds'' in 1967, it was published by Hart-Davis in the UK in 1968 and by Doubleday in the US in 1969. Translations have ...
'', Doubleday (1968), , Panther (1969), Avon (1971), Bantam (1980), Carroll & Graf (1989), Vintage (1999) *'' Black Alice'' (with
John Sladek John Thomas Sladek (December 15, 1937 – March 10, 2000) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels. Life and work Born in Waverly, Iowa, in 1937, Sladek was in England in the 1960s for the New Wave ...
, as Thom Demijohn), Doubleday (1968), Avon V2339 (1970), Panther (1970), Carroll & Graf (1989) *''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'', Ace (1969), New English Library (1980), ibooks (2003), Penguin (2009) *''Alfred the Great'' (as Victor Hastings), 1969 *'' 334'', MacGibbon & Kee (1972), , Avon (1974), Sphere (1974), Carroll & Graf (1987), Vintage (1999) *''Clara Reeve'' (as Leonie Hargrave), Knopf (1975), . Ballantine (1976) *'' On Wings of Song'' Gollancz (1979), St. Martin's (1979) , Bantam (1980), Magnum (1981), Carroll & Graf (1988) *''Neighboring Lives'' (with Charles Naylor), Scribner's (1981), , Johns Hopkins University Press (1991) *'' The Businessman: A Tale of Terror'', Harper & Row (1984), , Jonathan Cape (1984), Paladin (1986), Berkley (1993), University of Minnesota Press (2010) *''The M.D.: A Horror Story'', Knopf (1991), , HarperCollins (UK) (1992), Berkley (1992), University of Minnesota Press (2010) *''The Priest: A Gothic Romance'', Millennium (1994), , Knopf (1995), Orion (1995), University of Minnesota Press (2010) *''The Sub: A Study in Witchcraft'', Knopf (1999), , University of Minnesota Press (2010) *''The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten'', Tachyon (2008),


Novellas

*''
The Man Who Had No Idea "The Man Who Had No Idea" is a 1978 science fiction story by Thomas M. Disch. It was first published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. Plot summary In a world where licenses are required in order to participate in conversation, Ba ...
'', 1978 *''Torturing Mr. Amberwell'', 1985 *''The Silver Pillow: A Tale of Witchcraft'', 1988 *''The Voyage of the Proteus'', 2007 *''The Proteus Sails Again'', 2008


Story collections

*'' One Hundred and Two H-Bombs'', Compact (1967) UK (revised edition, Berkley (1971) US) *'' Fun with Your New Head'', SFBC 1971 US, Signet T4913 (1972) ('' Under Compulsion''), Hart-Davis (1968) UK, Panther (1970) UK *'' White Fang Goes Dingo'', Arrow (1971) UK, *'' Getting into Death'', Hart-Davis (1973) UK, *'' Getting into Death and Other Stories'', Knopf (1976), Pocket (1977) US *''Fundamental Disch'', Bantam (1980), , Gollancz (1981), selected and introduced by '' Samuel R. Delany''. *''The Man Who Had No Idea (collection)'', Gollancz (1982), Bantam (1982) *''The Wall of America'', Tachyon (2008),


Works for children

*'' The Brave Little Toaster: A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances'' **
Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
(August 1980) ** Doubleday 1st editio
0385230508
**
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Grafton Books Grafton was a British paperback imprint established 1981 by Granada Publishing Ltd, a subsidiary of media company Granada Group Ltd. It was named after the publishing company's then address, 8 Grafton Street, in central London. Other paperback i ...
, 1986. **
film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
, 1987 *''The Tale of Dan De Lion'', 1986 *''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'', 1988 **
film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
, 1998 *''A Child's Garden of Grammar'', 1997 *'' The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue'', 1999 (film only)


Poetry collections

*''Highway Sandwiches'' (with Charles Platt and Marilyn Hacker), 1970 *''The Right Way to Figure Plumbing'', 1972, *''ABCDEFG HIJKLM NPOQRST UVWXYZ'', 1981, *''Burn This'', 1982, *''Orders of the Retina'', 1982, *''Here I Am, There You Are, Where Were We'', 1984, *''Yes, Let's: New and Selected Poems'', 1989, *''Dark Verses and Light'', 1991, *''Haikus of an AmPart'', 1991, *''The Dark Old House'', 1996 *''About the Size of It'', 2007 *''Endzone. Letzte Gedichte/Last Poems. Zweisprachige Ausgabe/Bilangual Edition''. Edited and translated by Christopher Ecker. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Germany 2018,


Non-fiction

*''The Castle of Indolence: On Poetry, Poets, and Poetasters'', 1994, *'' The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World'', 1998, *''The Castle of Perseverance: Job Opportunities in Contemporary Poetry'', 2002, *
On SF
', 2005, . A collection of his critical writings.


Anthologies

*''The Ruins of Earth: An Anthology of Stories of the Immediate Future'', 1971 *'' Bad Moon Rising: An Anthology of Political Forebodings'', 1973 *'' The New Improved Sun: An Anthology of Utopian Fiction'', 1975 *''New Constellations: An Anthology of Tomorrow's Mythologies'', 1976 (with Charles Naylor) *''Strangeness: A Collection of Curious Tales'', 1977 (with Charles Naylor)


Plays

*''Ben-Hur'' 1989 *''The Cardinal Detoxes'' 1990


Computer game

*''
Amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...
'', 1986


Audio

* "Can you hear me, think tank two?", 2001 (as Tom Disch). ''Thought crimes in prose and poetry'' *''Mecca, Mettle'', 2005. An anthology featuring text and audio by Thomas Disch, BlöödHag, X's 4 Eyes and featuring artwork by Tim Kirk.Mecca, Mettle


See also

*
List of horror fiction authors This is a list of some (not all) notable writers in the horror fiction genre. Note that some writers listed below have also written in other genres, especially fantasy and science fiction. A B C D E F G H I J K L M ...
*
Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...


References

Notes Bibliography * Gioia, Dana. "Tom Disch," in ''Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture''. St. Paul, Minn.: Graywolf Press, 1992, , pp. 193–196. * Preminger, Alex, Terry V.F. Brogan, Frank J. Warnke, eds. ''The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics''. New York: Princeton University Press, 1993, . * Walzer, Kevin. "The Sword of Wit: Disch, Feinstein, Gwynn, Martin," in ''The Ghost of Tradition''. Brownsville, Ore.: Story Line Press, 1998, : pp. 152–184. * Yezzi, David. ''Thomas M., Meet Tom.'' Parnassus: Poetry in Review, 1995. * Further reading * Ecker, Christopher. ''Warum wir alle Pyramiden bauen sollten. Eine Begegnung mit Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008)'', in: Mamczak, Sascha and Jeschke, Wolfgang (eds.): ''Das Science Fiction Jahr 2009'', München 2009, pp. 506–560.


External links

* Thomas M. Disch Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
''Endzone''
Disch's website

* * * * *
Selected poems

Eulogy
by
Elizabeth Hand Elizabeth Hand (born March 29, 1957) is an American writer. Life and career Hand grew up in Yonkers and Pound Ridge, New York. She studied drama and anthropology at The Catholic University of America. Since 1988, Hand has lived in coastal Main ...
at Salon.com
"Remembering Thomas Disch"
by John Crowley in the ''
Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...
''
"The Prescient Science Fiction of Thomas M. Disch"
in ''
The Millions ''The Millions'' is an online literary magazine created by C. Max Magee in 2003. It contains articles about literary topics and book reviews. ''The Millions'' has several regular contributors as well as frequent guest appearances by literary no ...
''
Featured Author: Thomas M. Disch
A collection of news and reviews from the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
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