Appearing in book form for the first time, The Atheist in the Attic  is a suspenseful and vivid historical narrative, recreating the top-secret meeting between the mathematical genius Leibniz and the philosopher Spinoza caught between the horrors of the cannibalistic Dutch Rampjaar and the brilliant “big bang” of the Enlightenment. Also Delany’s “Racism and Science Fiction” combines scholarly research and personal experience in the unique true story of the first major African-American author in the genre. This collection features a bibliography, an author biography, and the candid and uncompromising Outspoken Interview. “A talent very close to time travel—or magic.” — Locus  “The most remarkable prose stylist to have emerged from the culture of American science fiction.” —William Gibson “I consider Delany not only one of the most important science fiction writers of the present generation, but a fascinating writer in general who has invented a new style.” —Umberto Eco "Clocking-in at seventy-two pages, The Atheist in the Attic centres on the famous November 1676 meeting between the philosophers Leibniz and Spinoza (the latter the atheist of the title) in The Hague, recounted here in the form of an (imaginary) written account by Leibniz. This is a strange but compelling work in which Delany foregrounds the social context of the pair’s meeting: the Dutch Republic’s so-called rampjaar (‘disaster year’) of 1672, in which England and France both invaded and a mob killed and mutilated two of the country’s most important political figures." —Gabriel Carlyle,  Peace News (UK) "This small volume offers two delectable ruminations (plus an interview) by Delany ( Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders ) on the nature of God and the insidiousness of racism... this remarkable melange will be enlightening for readers to follow along with him." — www.publishersweekly.com/ "Grand Master of SF Samuel R. Delaney gives us an absolutely fascinating and downright frightening recollection of the terrible past, violent reminders of racism and how he was much a victim himself of racial violence." —Andrew Andrews,  www.truereviewonline.com "Jamming Their Transmission," Episode 3: Samuel R. Delany This episode features Samuel R. Delany reading “A Night in the Lonesome October,” an as-yet unpublished short fiction. We talk about this and about some of Delany’s recently published books: Voyage, Orestes, The Atheist in the Attic, and Letters from Amherst. — interview,  https://bigother.com/2019/01/16/jamming-their-transmission-episode-3-samuel-r-delany/ Samuel R. Delany changed the tone, the content, and the very shape of modern science fiction with his acclaimed novels and stories that bridged the apparent gap between science and fantasy to explore gay sexuality, racial and class consciousness, and the limits of imagination and memory. His vast body of work includes memoir, comics, space adventure, mainstream novels, homosexual erotica, and literary criticism of a high order. The Atheist in the Attic By Samuel R. Delany PM Press Copyright © 2018 Samuel R. Delany All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62963-440-1 Contents The Atheist in the Attic, Racism and Science Fiction, "Discourse in an Older Sense", Outspoken Interview with Samuel R. Delany, Bibliography, CHAPTER 1 The Atheist in the Attic "Philosophy is homesickness. It is the desire to feel at home everywhere." — Novalis (as cited in Thomas Carlyle's essay of 1829) Shortly after I accepted employment with the duke, John Frederick, in November 1676, I, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, arrived at the house of the Amsterdam acquaintance with whom I'd be staying for three weeks while performing legal offices for my patron. By the end of my second afternoon I had made a five-hour trip for a six-hour visit to Baruch Spinoza's home in The Hague (the first of three visits over three consecutive days). Back in my Amsterdam rooms, I thought over those hours. I was thirty when I wrote these reflections — wrote them rather too freely, I now suspect, given what has occurred since his death three months after our meeting, as well as over the last twenty-two years of my life. (Gunter and his sisters have divided themselves between Africa and the New World. Would you believe it from what I've written below? I wouldn't.) Since the death of Ernest Augustus and the ascension of George, I've reread it. But I don't think I shall rewrite it, since in two years the eighteenth century will open up about us — or enfold us in its chaos. 1. There was nothing grand about his home, which almost all things here — the candelabra on the lace cloth at the ends of the downstairs dining table, the brass bar holding the carpet to the back of each broad step, the yellow blossoms brocaded on the wand of the bed warmer leaning by the fireplace in my bedroom suite — make me remember. (Though severity is in keeping with the nation, domestic Dutch decor is too austere.) I