During the 1950s, science fiction fans considered
themselves something of a beleaguered minority.
Although most of what was being published was
still targeted at young males, who made up the vast
majority of the SF readership, there were already
signs that the field was beginning to evolve along
more serious lines. Although stereotyped as a
literature of spaceships, monsters, and exotic
adventures, science fiction was already producing
thoughtful stories about the human condition from
writers like Theodore STURGEON and Brian W.
ALDISS. Fans understandably resented what they
saw as a ghettoization of the field, and defensively
professed their disdain for mainstream criticism,
which only aggravated their isolation.
Robert BLOCH, the author of the classic suspense story Psycho (1959), was a long-time fan who
made use of that intimacy to write this satiric story
of a future America dominated by science fiction
fans. A nuclear war devastated the world and destroyed much of the old knowledge; the situation is
made worse by the mundane population’s revulsion
against science and learning and the purposeful
burning of most books during the generation immediately following the war. Most of the books
that survived were the private collections of science fiction fans, hidden during the dark years;
when civilization finally began to rebuild itself,
most of the old knowledge they acquired was
harvested from these collections, although often
distorted. Robert A. HEINLEIN has been confused
with Albert Einstein, for example.
A presidential election campaign is underway,
and one of the candidates, John Henderson, is
about to make a startling discovery. He had always
wondered why none of the old amateur magazines
survived along with the books, but his curiosity is
satisfied when he finds a secret trove of them in a
ruined house. To his dismay, he discovers the
truth: Fans were not a persecuted political minority who had only the progress of humanity at heart.
Even worse, he realizes that powerful figures behind the government have known this all along
and have suppressed the truth. When he confronts
his mentor, the latter responds by confirming what
he suspects, but then reveals a deeper truth: The
legends are exaggerated and inaccurate, but that
does not matter. People need a tradition, however
distorted, to inspire them to build a better future.
The title, incidentally, comes from the slogan
“Fandom Is a Way of Life,” first enunciated by
writer Wilson TUCKER.