Norman Spinrad (Norman Richard Spinrad) Biography

American science fictionwriter, born in New York City, educated at City University, New York. He is best known for two novels both of which proved controversial within the genre for their sexual outspokenness and sharp satirical view of contemporary events, not usually characteristic in the field of science fiction. The first novel, Bug Jack Barron (1969), presciently argued that media heroes were well-placed to become President; the second, The Iron Dream (1972), is an alternative history in which Adolf Hitler becomes a popular writer of pulp science fiction. Other works include The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde (1970, short stories), The Void Captain's Tale (1983), and Deus X (1993), which confronts traditional religion with the metaphysical implications of cyberspace.