Дюна

           Latein1961,inthemidstofhismonumentaleffort,DadfiredhisliteraryagentLurtonBlassingame,becausehedidn’tfeeltheagentwassupportiveenoughandbecausehecouldn’tbearthethoughtofsendinganymorestoriesintotheNewYorkpublishingindustry,whichhadbeenrejectinghimforyears.

           Acoupleofyearslater,whenthenewnovelwasnearlycomplete,hegotbacktogetherwithBlassingameandwentthroughtheordealofrejectionafterrejection—morethantwentyofthem—untilChiltonfinallypickedupthebookandpaidanadvanceof$7,500forit.IfnotforafarsightededitoratChilton,

           SterlingLanier,Dunemightneverhavebeenpublished,andworldliteraturewouldbethepoorerforit.

           WhenmyfatherandIbecamecloseinmyadulthoodandwebegantowritetogether,hespoketomeoftenoftheimportanceofdetail,ofdensityofwriting.

           Astudentofpsychology,heunderstoodthesubconscious,andlikedtosaythatDunecouldbereadonanyofseverallayersthatwerenestedbeneaththeadventurestoryofamessiahonadesertplanet.Ecologyisthemostobviouslayer,butalongsidethatarepolitics,religion,philosophy,history,humanevolution,andevenpoetry.Duneisamarveloustapestryofwords,sounds,andimages.Sometimeshewrotepassagesinpoetryfirst,whichheexpandedandconvertedtoprose,formingsentencesthatincludedelementsoftheoriginalpoems.

           Dadtoldmethatyoucouldfollowanyofthenovel’slayersasyoureadit,andthenstartthebookalloveragain,focusingonanentirelydifferentlayer.