SCHULMAN, J(oseph) Neil

(1953-)

   US writer whose books have been very influential in the LIBERTARIAN-SF movement. Alongside Night (1979) describes the salvation of a future USA (whose economy has been destroyed by government intervention in the free market) by a hard-cash underground economy evolved from today's black market. The political message is reasonably unobtrusive, though non-libertarians may find the somewhat casual attitude taken towards the killing of tax collectors upsetting. The Rainbow Cadenza: A Novel in Logosata Form (1983), generally considered inferior, isinteresting for its portrayal of a DYSTOPIA judged against libertarian values rather than (as is more usual) humanist ones, as well as for its depiction of laser-generated visuals (ARTS) as a means of artistic expression. Like many libertarian authors, JNS is a competent thriller writer whose books are fundamentally motivated by a combination of moral outrage and a fascination with the hardware of politics and economics.

NT