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Title: Metafictional Classic
Review: Barry Malzberg's book "Galaxies" may have worked more effectively as a short story (it is essentially an expansion of his story "A Galaxy Called Rome"), but this is still the most self-reflective/metafictional SF novel ever written. It is a groundbreaking book, well worth reading.Actually, this book isn't a book at all but notes on a book which the author will never have the skill to actually write. He admits as much from the very beginning, and then asks us to consider the plight of an intergalactic astronaut who is caught in a black galaxy, a negative space, the underside of reality, etc. The dead, her cargo, begin to talk. All the way we are kept one or two steps removed from the action, in order to more clearly see what this action truly reflects.Malzberg's book isn't for everyone, but if you're looking for an SF equivalent of John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse," this is it.
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