Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Dirda recently reviewed Keith Roberts’ magestic novel, Pavane, in The Washington Post, describing it as a fix-up novel, a term coined by the late A.E. van Vogt. The review sparked a conversation about fix-ups, what they are and where the term comes from, and how terminology forms in the SF field. It’s digressive, unresearched, and un-factchecked, but at least it’s not talking about awards. As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast.
The UK comedy show you were trying to remember is Call My Bluff.
Interesting show.
I wasn’t aware Gunn objected to “fix-up”. I think it’s a value-neutral term, but I can understand why he would object especially since most of his novels are fix-ups but work well as novels.
As far as “fan” terms now dead, I came across one recently I hadn’t heard of: “sword and planet story”. That was a Wollheim term to describe a Barsoom-type story.
jonathanstrahan.podbean.com and the podcast feed seem to be down. I can’t download or play any episodes.