| The Motion of Light in Water | |
|---|---|
Dust-jacket from the first edition |
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| Author(s) | Samuel R. Delany |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Arbor House |
| Publication date | 1988 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 302 |
| ISBN | 0-87795-947-1 |
| OCLC Number | 16833709 |
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village is an autobiography by science fiction author Samuel R. Delany in which he recounts his experiences as growing up a gay African American, as well as some of his time in an interracial and open marriage. It describes encounters with Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, and Stokely Carmichael, a dinner with W. H. Auden, and a phone call to James Baldwin. Hazel Carby considers it "absolutely central to any consideration of black manhood... Delany's vision of the necessity for total social and political change is revolutionary." Among many cultural events of the decade that he witnessed, Delany recounts his attendance at the first New York City performance of artist Allan Kaprow's 18 Happenings in 6 Parts, the 1959 performance piece that, for many, marks the end of modernism and the beginning of postmodernism. In section 17.4 of the University of Minnesota Press edition, he describes the event and its venue, and speculates on its artistic significance.[1] The introduction puts an emphasis on the idea of the unreliable narrator; Delany's accounts often contrast his life as it "felt" to ways in which it actually occurred.
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