Contemporary American fiction has a complex relationship with its own science and technology; at least one critic likens it to a bad marriage that nevertheless goes on and on. Nineteen American and German contributors examine how writers informed by science look at the tensions they find between the machine/human interface, dark optimism and bright pessimism, the organic and the prosthetic, shameless Ludditism and guilt-ridden technological enthusiasm. The contributors also examine what impact this body of work has had on a culture which seems to make real the fantasies and nightmares of science-in-literature while ignoring its admonitions, first of all, to think. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)