A Galaxy Not So Far Away: Writers and Artists on Twenty-five Years of "Star Wars" [Paperback]

A collection of original essays by some of America's most notable young writers on the cultural impact of the Star Wars films, A Galaxy Not So Far Away is the first exploration of the innumerable ways the films have altered our cultural landscape. Edited by Glenn Kenny, a senior editor at Premiere magazine, this collection allows some of the highly perceptive writers to anatomise, criticise, celebrate, and sometimes simply riff on the prismatic after-effects of an unparalleled American phenomenon. Jonathan Lethem writes of the summer he saw Star Wars 21 times as his mother lay dying of cancer. Neal Pollack provides the putative memoir of a young man having problems with his father, written in the voice of Holden Caulfield. An intriguing assemblage of pop writing at its quirkiest.

A dazzling collection of original essays by some of America's most notable young writers on the cultural impact of the Star Wars films A Galaxy Not So Far Away is the first ever exploration of the innumerable ways the Star Wars films have forever altered our cultural and artistic landscape. Edited by Glenn Kenny, a senior editor and critic at Premiere magazine, this singular collection allows some of the nation's most acclaimed writers to anatomise, criticise, celebrate, and sometimes simply riff on the prismatic after-effects of an unparalleled American phenomenon. Jonathan Lethem writes of the summer he saw Star Wars twenty-one times as his mother lay dying of cancer. Neal Pollack chips in with the putative memoir of a certain young man having problems with his father, written in the voice of Holden Caulfield. Erika Krouse ponders the code of the Jedi Knight and its relation to her own pursuit of the martial arts. New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell mediates upon the mysterious figure Lando Calrissian. A classic assemblage of pop writing at its best, A Galaxy Not So Far Away is a book for everyone who loves Star Wars films and seeks to understand just what it is about these films that has so enchanted an entire generation of filmgoers.

Glenn Kenny is a senior editor and chief film critic for Premiere magazine. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Contributors: Aimee Agresti, Harry Allen, Dan Barden, Arion Berger, Kate Bernheimer, Tom Bissell, Tam Carson, Todd Hanson, Erica Krouse, Jonathan Lethem, Lydia Millet, Elvis Mitchell, Neal Pollack, Joe Queenan, Elwood Reid, Kevin Smith and Webster Younce.