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One of my central approaches to writing speculative fiction is to take an absurd situation, which we presently feel is normal, and then push it to an even further absurdity. It's only in this light that we can see the reflection of the disturbing state of our present-day affairs.

Alexander Weinstein

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Alexander Weinstein
Age: 82 †
Born: 1897
Born: January 21
Died: 1979
Died: November 6
Mathematician
University Teacher
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More quotes by Alexander Weinstein

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In Nepal, I realized a certain part of my spiritual search had come to an end. I wasn't ever going to live in a Himalayan cave (I like electricity and a soft bed way too much), and I sure wasn't going to find enlightenment so easily.
Alexander Weinstein
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[George W.] Bush's presidency was one of the great nightmares of my life to date.
Alexander Weinstein
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The problems we have with our current technology often reveal our own human foibles, and it's these new emotions of cyberspace which reveal our struggles.
Alexander Weinstein
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It's true, I do love the semi-epiphany. For example, in Fall Line, the character's final decision is less epiphany than imbecility. He makes a choice, which the conflict hangs upon - whether to seek fame or actually change his life - and so, his decision is tied to the central conflict and his own hubris.
Alexander Weinstein
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Parents are already telling their kids about falling in love online - there's nothing frightening or dystopian about this. So, the critique doesn't work, because we already consider our dystopic state of affairs normal.
Alexander Weinstein
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I realize that I've had a very idyllic vision of what spirituality looks like. Honestly, most of Western culture has an idyllic and simplified idea of what enlightenment entails.
Alexander Weinstein
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I set many of my stories in a gritty realist world, but one that is plagued by an overuse of technology, which is akin to the world we find ourselves living in now.
Alexander Weinstein
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Presently we're seeing these kinds of battles for our most vulnerable students - such as Trans and LGBTQ students. You have a lot of conservative parents/school boards making life much harder for these children by trying to ensure bullying remains in place.
Alexander Weinstein
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I'm a big fan of Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco's book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, where they visit what they call The Sacrifice Zones of America and report on the current state of our environmental calamity.
Alexander Weinstein
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I really admire the experimentalists who challenge traditional narrative - writers like Ishmael Reed, Michael Martone, Donald Barthelme, Tatyana Tolstaya, George Saunders, and many others.
Alexander Weinstein
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However, in my fiction, I want to give an even further warning of where we're heading. And so, in Heartland, you have people selling off their topsoil, and an underwater oil spill that has lasted over three-hundred days.
Alexander Weinstein
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I think the challenge for humans remains the same as it has always been: to learn the skills of kindness, compassion, and love. Without these sacred skills, all technology can do is grow the shadows in our lives.
Alexander Weinstein
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You find this watered-down enlightenment sold in mass quantity at yoga studios, high-priced shamanism retreats, DJ-fueled Ecstatic Dance parties, ayahuasca ceremonies, and self-empowerment seminars. There's a hope for a quick fix - if only we have the money and right drugs for it.
Alexander Weinstein
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I'll take a [Pavel] Chekhov comparison any day! He's of course one of the great masters at the short story form, and has helped define traditional conflict as we understand it.
Alexander Weinstein
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Rocket Night is my take on bullying culture. I think this is getting better, thanks to the anti-bullying work being done by my generation. But there's a way that coaches, teachers, parents, and administration officials can conspire against our students who need the most support.
Alexander Weinstein
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What is the emotion of an empty inbox? An unliked Post? An ignored dating app message? I think there's a great loneliness that much of our society is running from, and we search for relief in our phones and computers, our online communities, our social networks of friends.
Alexander Weinstein
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I love the Russian absurdists - [Nikolai] Gogol,[Daniil] Kharms, and [Vladimir] Bulgakov. Even within the Russian experimentalists, there's a lineage of traditional narrative, conflict, and character development, which I find vital to my storytelling.
Alexander Weinstein
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I think the future is intrinsically linked with our universal human problems. In fact, it's these very problems, and how we deal with them, which will determine our future.
Alexander Weinstein
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I'm just worried that the technology I invented in that story [The Pyramid and the Ass ] will become real, and George W. Bush will be able to clone into a new body and be re-elected due to a clone-bill passed by him and his cronies. God forbid!
Alexander Weinstein
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Wit and humor seem to always factor into this - there's a tongue-in-cheek tone you get when you take on a formalist story - because there's an inherent voice you're trying to copy (and often to satirize).
Alexander Weinstein