Paul Levinson
 Latest News
And now.... the "author's cut" of The Silk Code - Paul Levinson's award-winning 1999 first novel - is available as a Kindle edition for you to download and enjoy! Introducing this Phil D'Amato novel the way the author intended it... read it for the first time... read it again! 
Announcing! Updated second edition of Paul Levinson's latest non-fiction book, New New Media, is now available! This ground-breaking work, originally released in 2009 by Penguin Academics (a Pearson, Allyn and Bacon company), is a cutting-edge tour of the newest user-driven "new new media", turning consumers into producers. The new edition features Facebook, Twitter, blogging, YouTube, Foursquare, Wikipedia, more... how this transformation has revolutionized just about all aspects of our personal lives from the way we watch television to the way we pick our Presidents... with special focus on the global impact of these new new media, affecting protest movements from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street... and more... What they're saying about New New Media....
Joan Walsh, Editor-in-Chief of Salon.com, says:
"Paul Levinson takes you on a walking tour � actually, it's more like a running tour � of the media innovations that are transforming our world. He's not just a scholar, he's an explorer, immersing himself in MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and multiple blogging platforms to help us make sense of the galloping changes in media. Have we entered a glorious new era of media democracy, or are these innovations leveling standards of fairness and authority? Levinson remains an optimist without being blind to the dark side of change. Whether you want to learn to blog, podcast or Twitter yourself, or just keep track of the way such tools are remaking the world around you, New New Media is an indispensable guide." Jeff Jarvis, Director of New Media Program, City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism; Founder, Entertainment Weekly; Creator, BuzzMachine blog, says:
"Paul Levinson provides an invaluable and encyclopaedic guide to the newest of new media invented so far." Mignon Fogarty, creator of the award-winning Grammar Girl podcast, and author of the New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, says: "Insightful and comprehensive. The overviews are great for people who want to quickly get up-to-speed on the entire landscape or more experienced Web addicts who want to branch out, and the anecdotes and history will delight people who consider themselves old-timers."
  Lots of news about Twice Upon a Rhyme!
Paul is delighted to announce the release on iTunes, Amazon and eMusic of his classic 1972 original 13-track record album, Twice Upon A Rhyme. Buy individual tracks, or the whole album!
Here's the news about Paul's latest novel - The Plot to Save
Socrates - and his first, The Silk
Code...
The February 2006 first edition of The Plot to Save Socrates went into three hardcover printings and the hardcover gift edition is still available... And a handsome trade paperback edition is here.... order your copy now!
Listen to Paul read the first chapter - your own private reading in your living room, or download it to your iPod or CD and take it with you! What they're saying about The Plot to Save Socrates: Entertainment Weekly magazine calls it "challenging fun"... EW is the leading entertainment magazine in the US with over 2 million copies in circulation each week! The New York Daily News calls it a "Da Vinci-esque thriller"... A thoughtful new review by Colin Harvey on StrangeHorizons.com says "There's a delightfully old-fashioned feel to The Plot to Save Socrates... Levinson's cool, spare style reminded me of the writing of Isaac Asimov... The Plot to Save Socrates is a book that will bear repeated rereading." A STARRED review in Library Journal says... "...Levinson spins a fascinating tale that spans the centuries from 400 B.C.E. to 2061 C.E. and ranges from ancient Greece and Egypt to Victorian London and future New York. An intriguing premise with believable characters and attention to period detail make this an outstanding choice... Highly recommended." Steve Powers, in the Dallas Morning News, calls it "a fun book to read"... Brian Charles Clark's detailed and enjoyable review (be aware, a few surprise plot points are revealed!) on Curled Up With a Good Book says The Plot to Save Socrates "resonates with the current political climate" and he finds "a bite to Levinson's wit"... and he notes that "heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell"... John Joseph Adams, writing in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show calls The Plot to Save Socrates "...an elaborately- reasoned temporal tale - a novelized thought experiment whose logic and ideas Socrates would have approved of..." Pamela Sargent's SciFi Weekly review calls it "highly original," "conscientiously researched and well rendered," "emotionally satisfying and extremely moving." She concludes, "The Plot to Save Socrates will provoke thought long after readers have finished the book, at which point many may want to pick it up and read it again, to savor its twists and turns." Tom Easton, writing in Analog magazine, calls The Plot to Save Socrates "very satisfying... a tour de force..." and he says "Watch for it on award ballots." Kristin Gray, in the Davis, California, Enterprise says the book is "fast-paced and full of plot twists"... And this from Gavin Grant in Bookpage: "It's obvious that Levinson had a lot of fun and did a lot of research to write this book, and readers are sure to enjoy his take on the paradoxes of time travel." Fantasybookspot calls it "a philosophically rich, engaging time travel story... a charming portrayal of Socrates"... Thomas M. Wagner, writing on sfreviews.net, raves about "this yummy little pretzel of a story" ... calling it "deliriously mind-boggling time travel... Paul Levinson's The Plot to Save Socrates is a rare example of a novel actually thriving on paradoxes... daring with both its ideas and its approach to narrative structure... It's an absolute treat to sit back and be wrapped up in a story that gives a retro SF premise like time travel such a brilliant new kick, and it's doubly delightful to find the story as fun and entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Brain candy and brain vegetables, all in one serving. ... I just have to recommend the book to any and every SF reader looking for something truly original for a change." Book.of.the.moment says "I've never read anything like this before... The Plot to Save Socrates is highly original, creative, and engaging. I enjoyed it from the first page." Publisher's Weekly calls it a "light, engaging time travel yarn" and says "...by the surprise end, Levinson succeeds in tying the main narrative together in a way that neatly satisfies the circularity inherent in time travel, whose paradoxes he links to Greek philosophy..."
Booklist says "The plot twists across itself, filling the book with paradoxes and potential paradoxes in total disregard for linear time, betrayal, and plotting. In the end, Socrates' fate and Andros' motivations and identity conclude a quick-to-read, entertaining treatment of the problems inherent in time travel with style and flair." And Meme Therapy joins Far Sector andSciFi Wire with feature interviews with Paul about time travel and the writing of The Plot to Save Socrates... The Plot to Save Socrates ... political intrigue... ancient mysteries... time travel... past and future locales... deception and subterfuge... watch here for more!
Now available in bookstores everywhere...
in hardcover or order your trade paperback copy
now!
Listen to the new podiobook serial of Paul's 1999 award-winning first novel... The Silk Code - read by Shaun Farrell - now available for your listening pleasure! Click here for more about the weekly installments of this podiobook - introduced by famed authors such as Joe Haldeman who said The Silk Code was "an impressive debut". The podiobook is now available for free subscription to download to your computer or iPod.
And take a look
at what the critics had to say about this Locus Award
winning novel... The Silk
Code... still available in bookstores and for online order today!
Have you listened to Paul's podcasts?
Paul also has three other podcasts:
Go to Paul's Podcast Jukebox and listen, or subscribe on iTunes!
From July 2006 to January 2008 Paul had a weekly interview spot on Los Angeles radio KNX (CBS all news radio) on Sunday
mornings....
Paul's latest op-ed for Newsday is titled "TV's New Golden Age."
Published on July 23, 2006, this piece develops his argument that "only idiots
don't watch tv," finding groundbreaking excellence in programming ranging
from "Battlestar Galactica" and "Da Ali G Show" to "Rome" and "24". Paul has
been an outspoken defender of tv at least since his 1980 article "The Benefits
of Watching Television."
Non-fiction book news... Digital McLuhan trade paperback has gone into another printing! Continually in print since its original hardcover publication in 1999, Digital McLuhan has been translated into five languages and is used around the world as a clear, instructive guide to the 21st century relevance of Marshall McLuhan's brilliant and prescient explorations.
Recent major television appearances.... Tuesday January 31, Paul's debut on PBS' NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, talking about departing Federal Reserve Board chair Alan Greenspan as pop culture icon... earlier that evening Paul appeared on New York City's WCBS-TV Channel 2 News on the same story.... watch here for more!
Paul Levinson has long been a vocal critic of government attacks on the First Amendment -- from the FCC's threats to freedom of speech... to the assault on freedom of the press in meting out jailtime to reporters who must protect their sources... and other incursions on our freedoms. Most recently, on October 16 he was quoted in Peter Johnson's column in USA Today in support of a Federal shield law for reporters... ...on October 18 Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who was jailed for 85 days for refusing to reveal a source, quoted Paul's comments in her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on why we need a Federal shield law... ...on October 28, Kelly Wallace interviewed Paul for CNN's American Morning about Maureen Dowd's sharp criticism of Miller... ...and on November 9, Paul was interviewed on CNN Radio about Judith Miller's departure from The New York Times ...
Paul is presently writing a book on the threat to our
Constitutional freedoms,
The Flouting of the First
Amendment, and is always available to talk to the
press and to groups about these important
issues.
Paul has praise for reinvigorated media advocacy in their reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
Paul Levinson's latest non-fiction book -Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium, and How It Has Transformed Everything! - continues to receive notice and he is writing and talking about the impact of the cellphone in interviews, op-eds, and on radio and tv...
Cellphone:
The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How it Has Transformed
Everything!...
check it out!
Paul Levinson is speaking out in 2005 on the ongoing threat to freedom of the press and all of our First Amendment freedoms...
Click here for earlier quotes on First Amendment
issues... and here... and here...
Appearing on television, radio, and widely quoted in print, Paul weighs in on the acquittal of Michael Jackson and the positive impact it could have on Jackson's career:
In his comments on Newsweek's retraction
of their reporting of alleged Koran desecration at Guantanamo, Paul points
out
the damage that can be done when top journalists appear to forget the
basic
rules of Journalism 101: check your sources. He appeared on May 16 and
17th on New York City television news programs on WNBC-TV's "Live at Five", WB-
11 and UPN-9, Toronto area 570NEWS radio, Vancouver's CKNW radio
Stirling Faux Show, and was quoted in articles in
Newsday, USA Today, and in Toronto's The Globe and
Mail.
And Paul greets the release of Star Wars Episode III:
The Revenge of the Sith with observations to the New York Daily News, Reuters News Agency (widely
reprinted), ABC-
Network radio and CNN-radio, seeing the Star Wars phenomenon as
achieving in two generations what it took the Iliad and Odyssey
millennia to accomplish, and discussing the political lessons we can learn
from
the saga.
Available as of June 2005... Levinson novel on CD
... On April 1, Paul's book Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium, and How It Has Transformed Everything! was featured in a nationally broadcast CBS News "The Early Show" segment on kids and cellphones as part of their special series, "Cellular Nation." See Paul interviewed on the video and read an excerpt from the book... And we're happy to announce that Palgrave/Macmillan recently rushed a second printing of Cellphone. See below for details about the book... In another wave of appearances, Paul continued to discuss the book and comment on issues regarding cellphones, including the recent decision by the FCC to review the ban on cellphones in airplanes. Unlike many media critics, Paul is against banning cellphones on planes, provided there is no safety issue regarding the plane's navigation, and was quoted on this story in the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on December 16, 2004. On February 13, 2005 the Sacramento Bee ran a story about the feelings people have about their cellphones, quoting him and mentioning Cellphone. He was interviewed about the book for Bloomberg Radio, in a feature story that aired all day on February 26, 2005.
Paul started 2005 speaking out about the FCC and its threat to the First Amendment, and the chilling effect of fear of government censorship:
In related stories, Paul appeared on MSNBC's Scarborough Country two weeks in succession: on February 7, sparring with Joe Scarborough and Ann Coulter about academic freedom, tenure, and the state of the university in America... and again on February 16, debating with Joe and Bob Kohn about the lessons learned from the Dan Rather- CBS memo controversy... read the transcripts...
Paul has been interviewed widely about the major
changes that all of network news is facing: ABC's Peter Jennings' illness and
subsequent death, Ted Koppel's departure from NightLine and Barbara
Walters' announced departure; NBC's handover
of the Nightly News from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams; and Dan Rather's
exit from The CBS Evening News and his place in the
history of journalism. Paul has been quoted on these
stories in the Hollywood Reporter, New York Daily News, Westchester Journal-
News, and on AP Radio; and in the Houston Chronicle, AP,
Reuters, and on New York City's
WB-11 evening news program. Click here
for more quotes and interviews on this topic...
And Paul returned to MSNBC's Scarborough Country on April 12
(read the transcript) to explain and justify the differences in media
coverage of
allegations against current House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former Clinton
official Sandy Berger, pointing out that DeLay's powerful governmental
position
demands media attention and scrutiny...
Paul is frequently called by the media to comment on the
popular culture and on stories in the news about celebrity personalities,
prominent events and the news and entertainment industries. Recent people and
topics include Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira, Amy Fisher (picked up on
12/21/05 by gawker.com!),
Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Johnny Carson, Michael Jackson, Liz Smith and
Martha Stewart;
media coverage of the Schiavo case, the death of Pope John Paul II, the
Star
Wars phenomenon, the
popularity of "reality tv", and the proliferation of awards shows. On the
occasion of Arthur Miller's death, he told Reuters that "Arthur Miller
stole Marilyn Monroe from Joe DiMaggio, providing hope to all the nerds and
intellectuals of the world that the jock athlete doesn't always get the
girl." This quote appeared in publications around the world, and was listed
as the top "quote of the week" in London's Daily Mail Sunday edition,
on
February 13, 2005.
In January 2005, Paul headed South, sidestepping a
blizzard in
New York, to be a Guest of Honor
alongside author Larry Niven
at a Southern literary science fiction convention: Chattacon 30 in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Read
a con report by John Snider of Scifi Dimensions...
Paul Levinson was on television, radio and in print this past Fall, talking about the major media stories of the year: discussing the rise of cable news and the decline in popularity of network news, looking at media bias and choices made in reporting, talking about media coverage of the Presidential debates and the election, commenting on the dangerous climate of fear of governmental censorship, defending the First Amendment, and more... In an hour-long interview on Tampa, Florida's WMNF community radio program "Critical Times", on December 17, Paul took a look back at a year of unprecedented attacks on American media by the FCC, in blatant violation of the First Amendment... On the departures of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather from the nightly evening network news programs, Paul has been widely quoted on his view that this signals the beginning of the end of the network news anchor as we know it, while he speculates on ways that their successors could be successful. He had several interviews with Reuters that were picked up by newspapers across the country and around the world, as well as interviews with the Miami Herald, the Denver Post, on CBS national radio, AP and Bloomberg radio (one picked up on the Howard Stern radio program), in The New York Post, and... he was cited by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's Countdown on November 30. Appearing two more times on CNBC's Bullseye decrying potential government censorship of videogames - on December 16, Paul talked about the dangers of making sale of some videogames to minors illegal, preferring that parents, not government, decide what is in their children's best interests and on November 22, he suggested that the best response to offensive media such as a new video game about the JFK assassination is for the public, parents, consumers to denounce and boycott it, but warning against government interference... Back on MSNBC's Scarborough Country November 18 with guest host Pat Buchanan and guest Bob Kohn, talking about media bias and who decides what stories we get to see... read the transcript... watch the videoclip... Returning to The O'Reilly Factor on November 16, Paul spars with Bill and guest Mark Bowden about whether the media should edit or curtail their broadcasts of real footage of war horrors such as Abu Ghraib... Read the transcript... watch the videoclip... This is Paul's third appearance this year on this top-rated Fox News Channel cable tv show, and he also appeared on The Radio Factor this summer... On the decision of some ABC affiliates to pull the Veteran's Day 2004 broadcast of Saving Private Ryan, fearing possible FCC imposition of fines for "indecent" language, on CNBC (national cable tv), Bullseye, November 11. This appearance continues Paul's outspoken defense of the First Amendment in the face of real and potential governmental censorship of the media.
On the Presidential debates and campaign coverage:
On the Dan Rather-Bush document controversy, putting the story into perspective:
And commenting on censorship of political ads, Paul has an op- ed piece "A Modest Suggestion on Political Ads" in The Journal- News, Westchester Gannett newspaper, September 5, 2004.
Paul brings the perspective of a media historian to the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather on October 6 with his comments on Howard Stern's announced move from restrictive, regulated broadcast radio to unfettered Sirius Satellite radio. And he is quoted on the same story in the Newark Star-Ledger, also on October 6.
Summertime 2004 media appearances... Paul live on
MSNBC July 7, talking about the New York
Post's "exclusive" front page story erroneously announcing Kerry's VP
choice as Gephardt...
Special New York City summer event... Reading
from The Pixel Eye in
beautiful Bryant Park's
outdoor Reading Room next to the New York Public
Library at 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, on Monday June 28,
2004
as
part
of the park's "Word for Word" lunchtime series. For those who haven't
read the book yet: after
a daring escape from the Grace Building on 42nd Street, Paul's forensic
detective Dr. Phil D'Amato catches his breath in Bryant Park, looks at the
Library, and ponders his next move. What could be a better
location for this reading!
Paul was on NPR's nationally-broadcast "Talk of the Nation" on Wednesday May 12, talking about his book Cellphone. If you missed it, you can listen on the web... And he talked about Cellphone on several local public radio, commercial broadcast, and satellite radio shows and on cable television:
Paul Levinson is speaking out on government attacks on the First Amendment... about the FCC, Congressional hearings, and the acquiescence of media organizations such as Clear Channel to the government's pressure to censor what goes out on the airwaves, cautioning that first amendment rights to free speech are under attack when the government interferes with the content of radio and television shows and attempts to censor on-air personalities such as Howard Stern. In February, March and April 2004, Paul was on radio, television, online and in print speaking out on this crucial topic:
Paul was back in the "No Spin Zone" on April 12,
2004,
sparring again with Bill
O'Reilly on the number one
national cable-tv news program - Fox News'The O'Reilly Factor -
speaking
up for the media against Bill's accusations that they deliberately
lie to the public. His earlier appearance this year, on January 23, was about
whether public people can have
private lives ...
Head-to-head for a half-hour with Jesse
Ventura on the
Governor's MSNBC program, Jesse Ventura's America, on Saturday
October 18, 2003... Paul defends the news media against Jesse's attacks
on their excesses ...read the
transcript...see the
videoclips!
Cellphone is available! Published in April 2004 by Palgrave Macmillan, Paul Levinson's newest non-fiction book is on bookstore shelves and available to purchase online...Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, calls it "a superb and often amusing account." Douglas Rushkoff, writing a major review essay in TheFeature.com, says Cellphone makes "an excellent case for the cell phone's ability to reinstate the supremacy of the written word." And Pamir Gelenbe calls the book "a thought-provoking analysis" in MediaWeek. Paul gave a preview to receiver online magazine of Cellphone, in "Cellphone: The Jangling Saviour." And the book has been published in Chinese translation in the People's Republic of China and in Polish, and a Russian translation is underway. More to come... watch this space for more news about Cellphone!
And a trade paperback of The Pixel Eye hit bookstores in June 2004, and is available for online order ... Gerald Jonas, writing in the Sunday October 12 New York Times Book Review says "The nuttiness of the premise and the grittiness of the near-future New York ambience are equally appealing." The New York Times also excerpted a section ofThe Pixel Eye-- a "New York" book -- on Sunday August 17 in The City section's "NY Bookshelf: Tales of Detectives, Art, and Mysterious Squirrels." Tom Easton in Analog says this "Phil D'Amato romp... is nicely straightforward and an interesting take on the real world of the moment." Publisher's Weekly calls this science fiction thriller "breezily chilling ... enough to send a shiver down most readers' spines." SF Weekly says "The Pixel Eye is a thoroughly enjoyable book, extremely readable, and brave in confronting the consequences of September 11." Watch here
for excerpts from other reviews.
The Pixel Eye was a finalist
for the 2004 Prometheus Award, given by The Libertarian Futurist Society. Pick up a copy!
Levinson's 2004 rolling book tour continues...
with appearances across the Northeast
at conventions, bookstores, and special events. Stop by and see Paul as he
visits your area reading from and speaking about
Cellphone and The Pixel Eye and as he previews The
Plot to Save Socrates... with
stops scheduled for Philadelphia, New York and Boston with more to
come...
Now available in a handsome trade paperback edition, The Consciousness Plague wins award ... Levinson's novel The Consciousness Plague won the 2003 Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work presented by the Media Ecology Association. The MEA is a scholarly organization devoted to studying the impact of media and information technology on human life. The Mary Shelley Award -- given for the first time this year -- honors a book, movie, or other work of fiction in which information technology and communication theory play a major role. The Consciousness Plague explores the possibility that our consciousness and mentality may be the result, in part, of a symbiotic micro-organism that has been living in our brains for millennia. It is the second Levinson novel that features NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato, who is back for another appearance in The Pixel Eye.
Paul Levinson's "The Chronology Protection Case"
radioplay nominated for Edgar award for Best Play
of 2002! The
Edgar
Allan Poe Awards of 2003, given by the Mystery Writers of America,
honor the "best in mystery fiction, non-fiction,
television, film and theatre published or produced in 2002". The radioplay of
Paul Levinson's novelette "The Chronology
Protection Case," adapted by Mark Shanahan with Paul Levinson
and Jay Kensinger, was nominated for this coveted award in the
Best Play category. Although they didn't win, the
This story has legs! First published in Analog in September
1995, reprinted
in several anthologies including Jack Dann's 1998
Nebula Awards 32, and available in electronic edition on
fictionwise.com,
this time travel story was a Nebula and Sturgeon Award
nominee in 1996, and marked the first appearance of
Dr. Phil D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective whose exploits are further
detailed in The Silk Code, The Consciousness Plague, and
in Paul's latest
novel, The Pixel Eye. In 2001,
filmmaker
Jay Kensinger
made a 40-minute movie of this novelette which is
on a screening tour - see more below. In 2002,
Mark Shanahan, with Paul Levinson and Jay Kensinger, adapted Paul's
story into a radioplay. The Stage Shadows production
of this radioplay premiered before a standing-room-only audience at the
Mark Goodson Theater, Museum of Television and Radio, in New York City in
September 2002, where it was taped for subsequent radio broadcast. The CD of
this performance,
complete with music and sound effects, was enjoyed at science fiction
conventions in 2002 and 2003. The script of this radioplay was a nominee for
the Edgar Award for Best Play of 2002.
Levinson on cable and video ... Paul is extensively interviewed in Fantastic Voyage: Evolution of Science Fiction, a two-hour History Channel cable television documentary which had its debut broadcast in September 2002, and is regularly re-broadcast in the US and around the world.
Here's what the
History Channel says about this program: "For
centuries, we've been hypnotized by tales of scientific speculation,
alien invasion, and future fantasy. From the pioneers of science fiction
to the dime novels of the 1930s, from the atomic age and its B-movies
to the age of Trekkies, our Fantastic Voyage combines surprising
stories, visionary personalities, provocative ideas, and colorful visuals
to salute the history of an enduring and important genre." Don't miss this
exciting look at what Paul calls the "quintessential literature of the
human species." Videotapes are available from historychannel.com
if you missed the show which also interviewed such notables as Greg Bear,
Stanley Schmidt,
Chip Delaney, William Shatner, Majel Barrett, Nalo Hopkinson, David Kyle, Roger
Corman, Robert Wise, Paul Verhoeven and Forrie Ackerman. 
Levinson novelette on film ... More about "The Chronology Protection Case" ... Filmmaker Jay Kensinger's 40-minute movie of Paul Levinson's first Phil D'Amato story continues to make the rounds on its screening tour ... Kensinger and Levinson were on hand for the well- received debut screening of the film at I-Con in April 2002, as was Ernest Lilley, editor of SFRevu, who chronicled the event and reviews the film in his May 2002 issue. Paul spoke at 2002 screenings for the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, at Balticon, Readercon, and Albacon. More screenings are planned for 2003 science fiction conventions. And ... the film is
now showing on the Web at Timelinks
-- the foremost Internet site
devoted to the consideration of time travel in science, theory,
and science fiction -- no charge,
just click here and enjoy!
Levinson speaks out in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on "Schwarzenegger and the Fame Game"
... and in
Locus Online
...
read about Paul's new realizations about fantasy and
science fiction on seeing Lord of the
Rings, in his piece
"Confessions of a Science Fiction Chauvinist, as Occasioned by
Seeing
The Two Towers" ... and
Paul on Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the
Clones... as he takes on the critics of the most recent Star Wars
movie in his "Ten
Reasons to Like the
Clones" ... top of page latest news newest books what's aheadNewest Books
Paul's newest non-fiction book is New New Media - published in September 2009 by Penguin Academics (a Pearson, Allyn and Bacon company). New New Media is a cutting-edge tour of the newest user-driven "new media", turning consumers into producers - blogging, YouTube, Twitter, Wikipedia, Facebook, Digg, more... and how this transformation has revolutionized just about all aspects of our personal lives from the way we get our news to how we watch television to the way we pick our Presidents.
Joan Walsh, Editor-in-Chief of Salon.com, says:
"Paul Levinson takes you on a walking tour � actually, it's more like a running tour � of the media innovations that are transforming our world. He's not just a scholar, he's an explorer, immersing himself in MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and multiple blogging platforms to help us make sense of the galloping changes in media. Have we entered a glorious new era of media democracy, or are these innovations leveling standards of fairness and authority? Levinson remains an optimist without being blind to the dark side of change. Whether you want to learn to blog, podcast or Twitter yourself, or just keep track of the way such tools are remaking the world around you, New New Media is an indispensable guide." Jeff Jarvis, Director of New Media Program, City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism; Founder, Entertainment Weekly; Creator, BuzzMachine blog, says:
"Paul Levinson provides an invaluable and encyclopaedic guide to the newest of new media invented so far." Mignon Fogarty, creator of the award-winning Grammar Girl podcast, and author of the New York Times bestseller Grammarhttps://www.sff.net/member/editor/index.asp Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, says: "Insightful and comprehensive. The overviews are great for people who want to quickly get up-to-speed on the entire landscape or more experienced Web addicts who want to branch out, and the anecdotes and history will delight people who consider themselves old-timers."
Paul's latest novel is
You can listen to Paul read the first chapter here. Entertainment Weekly magazine calls it "challenging fun". The New York Daily News calls it a "Da Vinci-esque thriller"... A review by Colin Harvey on StrangeHorizons.com says "There's a delightfully old-fashioned feel to The Plot to Save Socrates... Levinson's cool, spare style reminded me of the writing of Isaac Asimov... The Plot to Save Socrates is a book that will bear repeated rereading." And Fantasybookspot calls it "a philosophically rich, engaging time travel story... a charming portrayal of Socrates"... A STARRED review in Library Journal says... "...Levinson spins a fascinating tale that spans the centuries from 400 B.C.E. to 2061 C.E. and ranges from ancient Greece and Egypt to Victorian London and future New York. An intriguing premise with believable characters and attention to period detail make this an outstanding choice... Highly recommended." Brian Charles Clark's review on Curled Up With a Good Book says The Plot to Save Socrates "resonates with the current political climate" and he finds "a bite to Levinson's wit"... and he notes that "heroine Sierra Waters is sexy as hell". John Joseph Adams, writing in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show calls The Plot to Save Socrates "...an elaborately-reasoned temporal tale - a novelized thought experiment whose logic and ideas Socrates would have approved of..." Pamela Sargent's SciFi Weekly review calls it "highly original," "conscientiously researched and well rendered," "emotionally satisfying and extremely moving." She concludes, "The Plot to Save Socrates will provoke thought long after readers have finished the book, at which point many may want to pick it up and read it again, to savor its twists and turns." Tom Easton, writing in Analog magazine, calls The Plot to Save Socrates "very satisfying... a tour de force..." and he says "Watch for it on award ballots." Kristin Gray, in the Davis, California, Enterprise says the book is "fast-paced and full of plot twists"... and Steve Powers, in the Dallas Morning News, calls it "a fun book to read". Gavin Grant in Bookpage says: "It's obvious that Levinson had a lot of fun and did a lot of research to write this book, and readers are sure to enjoy his take on the paradoxes of time travel." And Book.of.the.moment says "I've never read anything like this before... The Plot to Save Socrates is highly original, creative, and engaging. I enjoyed it from the first page." Thomas M. Wagner, writing on sfreviews.net, raves about "this yummy little pretzel of a story" ... calling it "deliriously mind-boggling time travel... Paul Levinson's The Plot to Save Socrates is a rare example of a novel actually thriving on paradoxes... daring with both its ideas and its approach to narrative structure... It's an absolute treat to sit back and be wrapped up in a story that gives a retro SF premise like time travel such a brilliant new kick, and it's doubly delightful to find the story as fun and entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Brain candy and brain vegetables, all in one serving. ... I just have to recommend the book to any and every SF reader looking for something truly original for a change." Publisher's Weekly calls it a "light, engaging time travel yarn" and says "...by the surprise end, Levinson succeeds in tying the main narrative together in a way that neatly satisfies the circularity inherent in time travel, whose paradoxes he links to Greek philosophy..."
Booklist says "The plot twists across itself, filling the book with paradoxes and potential paradoxes in total disregard for linear time, betrayal, and plotting. In the end, Socrates' fate and Andros' motivations and identity conclude a quick-to-read, entertaining treatment of the problems inherent in time travel with style and flair." And Meme Therapy joins Far Sector andSciFi Wire with feature interviews with Paul about time travel and the writing of The Plot to Save Socrates...
What's Up AheadComing up... the novel Unburning Alexandria... the exciting sequel to Paul's acclaimed fifth novel, The Plot to Save Socrates, picking up the story of Sierra Waters now time traveling in ancient Alexandria. The first two chapters of Unburning Alexandria were published in the November 2008 issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact - copies still available for purchase.
Next up in non-fiction: The New Golden Age of Television Drama.... expanding on many of the themes Paul explores in his popular blog, InfiniteRegress.tv.
top of page latest news newest books what's ahead
BiographyPaul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City. His nine nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009) have been the subject of major articles in The New York Times, Wired, The Christian Science Monitor, and other publications and have been translated into ten languages. New New Media, exploring blogging, Twitter, YouTube and other "new new" modes of communication, was published by Penguin Academics in September 2009. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel), Borrowed Tides (2001), The Consciousness Plague (2002), The Pixel Eye (2003), and The Plot To Save Socrates (2006). His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards. Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "Nightline" (ABC), and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, hosts three popular podcasts, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Top 10 Academic Twitterers" in 2009.
top of page latest news newest books what's aheadWritingPaul Levinson writes science fiction, sf/mystery
and popular and scholarly non-fiction. His most recent novel is The Plot to Save Socrates (2006) and his newest non-fiction book is New New Media (2009).
The Silk Code won the Locus award for Best First Novel of 1999. His novel The Consciousness Plague won the 2003 Mary Shelley Award for outstanding Fictional Work. He has
published more than 30 science fiction stories, some of which are now available on fictionwise.com. His novella "Loose
Ends" was a 1998 Hugo Award finalist, a finalist for the 1998 Sturgeon
Award, and a finalist for the 1997 Nebula Award. The radioplay of his novelette "The Chronology Protection Case" was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play of 2002. Digital McLuhan won the 2000
Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship. His fiction and non-fiction work has been translated into thirteen languages.
FictionPaul's latest novel is The Plot to Save Socrates. His earlier fiction includes:
Dr. Phil D'Amato returns in a gripping New York City
sf mystery, as this NYPD forensics detective faces a strange series of murders
and memory losses in The Consciousness Plague, Levinson's third
novel for Tor, published in hard cover in 2002; trade paperback in August 2003. This novel won the 2003
Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work. Roland Green, writing in
Booklist, said The Consciousness
Plague "more nearly reaches the heights of Isaac Asimov's classic
sf mysteries than those of most other genre hands who attempt
them manage to do these days"; Tom Easton said in the November 2002 issue of
Analog that "This is Levinson's best to date"; Library Journal
said "Levinson's intelligent blend of police procedural and speculative
fiction should appeal to fans of mystery and sf"; Locus' Gary K. Wolfe
called it "a pretty crisp murder mystery"; and Paul Di Filippo says in
SFWeekly that "D'Amato [is] ... an earnest Everyman, operating on a
shoeshine and a hunch". Locus picked The Consciousness
Plague as "New and
Notable" in April 2002. And it was selected as a Spring
2002 Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) Featured Alternate and a Spring
Editor's Pick of the Mystery Guild. A Polish translation is underway.
The Pixel Eye was published in hardcover in 2003, trade paperback edition in June 2004, and available for online order ... Paul's
fourth novel from Tor is a gritty Phil D'Amato mystery with sf overtones.
Connie Willis says "Forensic detective Phil D'Amato is one of my favorite characters". The New York Times Book Review says "The nuttiness of the premise and the grittiness of the near-future New York ambience are equally appealing" and they selected and reprinted several paragraphs from The Pixel Eye in the August 17, 2003 "NY Bookshelf: Novels: Tales of Detectives, Art and Squirrels" feature in The City section -- one of four new "New York" books. Tom Easton, writing in Analog, says "Paul Levinson's latest Phil D'Amato romp ... is nicely straightforward and an interesting take on the real world of the moment." Publisher's Weekly calls The Pixel Eye a "breezily chilling story" and says it is "enough to send a shiver down most readers' spines." Library Journal says "Levinson's latest novel featuring the resourceful and wise-cracking D'Amato delivers another satisfying mix of hard sf intrigue and detective story set against a 21st-century New York City" that is "a fast-moving story that belongs in most libraries." SF Weekly says "The Pixel Eye is a thoroughly enjoyable book, extremely readable, and brave in confronting the consequences of September 11." Cinescape magazine says "D'Amato is a charming narrator, and an intriguing character, which also contributes to Pixel's successes." SFRevu says "Long time readers of science fiction should consider him [Levinson] their first choice when it comes to spreading the word of sf..."
top of page latest news newest books what's aheadNon-FictionPaul Levinson has published nine non-fiction books. His most recent is New New Media published in September 2009. Earlier books include:
Sir Arthur C. Clarke said about Cellphone, "A superb and often amusing account of one of the greatest revolutions in human history, in which we are now living. The wristwatch phone of the old science fiction stories is now a reality! What more can we expect? Direct brain to brain communication? Stay tuned...." Douglas Rushkoff, writing in TheFeature.com, calls Paul Levinson "a worthy appraiser of the function of this most ubiquitous wireless media tool in human affairs." And he says Cellphone makes "an excellent case for the cell phone's ability to reinstate the supremacy of the written word." Pamir Gelenbe calls the book "a thought-provoking analysis" that is "certainly worth a read," in the British publication, MediaWeek. Watch for more reviews... Chinese and Polish translations of Cellphone are now available, and it will also be available in Russian.
Publisher's Weekly says "Fans of Levinson's previous works, as well as those interested in the relations between cyberspace, 'real space' and outer space, should relish this challenging and mind-opening read." The Midwest Book Review says "Realspace is an essential, thought-provoking purchase". And Edward Tenner, author of Why Things Bite Back, called Realspace "a rich, original, and sophisticated work that will be rewarding reading both for science fiction enthusiasts and for professionals in the history and sociology of science and technology". The Christian Science Monitor published an in-depth interview with Paul and said Realspace "offers an irresistible perspective". And Paul's Realspace media appearances included an interview on national network overnight television -- ABC World News Now now available on the Web... and on BBC Radio 4 on Thinking Allowed -- now also available on the web -- in a conversation with Brian Stableford.
Read the first chapter of Realspace now... andorder a copy! A Chinese
translation of the book was released in 2007.
Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium , was published worldwide in hardcover by Routledge in 1999; trade paperback edition 2001. Digital McLuhan won the 2000 Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship. WIRED's Kevin Kelly said about Digital McLuhan, "Paul Levinson completes McLuhan's pioneering work. Read this book if you want to decipher life on the screen." The New York Times said "Levinson performs a useful service ... [he] applies McLuhan's work to almost every facet of modern communications" and in another article "Digital McLuhan presents McLuhan in a new light, [for] a generation grappling with the transforming effects of cyberspace, cell phones and virtual reality." Digital McLuhan is included on Robert Anton Wilson's " Recommended Reading List," of "the bare minimum of what everybody really needs to chew and digest before they can converse intelligently about the 21st Century." Professors in graduate and undergraduate classes around the world use this book to help their students put the Internet into perspective. The book has been published in Japanese and Chinese and translations are underway in Croatian, Romanian, and Korean. top of page latest news newest books what's aheadAbout Paul LevinsonPaul Levinson is a professor, media commentator, and writer of award-winning fiction and non-fiction. His popular blogs and podcasts include Infiniteregress.tv and "Levinson News Clips" - reviewing the best of television and movies - and he was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Top 10 Academic Twitterers" in 2009. His non-fiction books include The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009). His novels include The Silk Code (1999, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel), Borrowed Tides (2001), The Consciousness Plague (2002), The Pixel Eye (2003), and The Plot To Save Socrates (2006). His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards. Paul has been interviewed more than 500 times on radio and television in the United States, Canada, England, Italy and Australia including ABC's "NightLine", "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather", PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer", "The O'Reilly Factor", "Scarborough Country", "Jesse Ventura's America", "The Big Story with John Gibson", ABC's "World News Now", "Daybreak", "Your World with Neil Cavuto", PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Discovery Channel, the History Channel, "Today in New York", "Good Day New York", WNBC-TV, WCBS-TV, WB-11, "Inside Edition", AP Radio, CBS Radio Network News, Bloomberg Radio, CNN Radio, NPR's "Talk of the Nation", "Morning Edition", "The Diane Rehm Show", "On the Media", "The Connection","on Point", "Public Interest (The Kojo Nnamdi Show)", "Odyssey", "Tech Nation", "New York and Company", and many local NPR affiliates and local radio and tv, and the BBC's "NewsNight" and "Thinking Allowed" and he has been quoted frequently in publications including The New York Times, Politico, Huffington Post, USA Today, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Smithsonian Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Billboard, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, Newark Star-Ledger, Orlando Sentinel, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Detroit News, Dallas Morning News, the Cape Cod Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Associated Press, Reuters, UPI, Scripps-Howard, and dozens of other major newspapers, magazines, and news services. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles on the history and philosophy of communication and technology, and his essays have appeared in The Village Voice, Shift, The Industry Standard, Omni, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Analog, and eight times in WIRED. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems from 1990-2000; he was Associate Editor of et cetera from 1977-1979. In the late 1960s to early 1970s Paul was a songwriter, singer and record producer. He worked with music business greats ranging from Ellie Greenwich to Murray the K. His songwriting career featured recordings by the Vogues and other 1960s groups. He wrote lyrics and sometimes music, often in collaboration with other songwriters such as noted composer Jimmy Krondes and a then unknown young songwriter named Linda Kaplan who years later wrote the Toys 'r' Us jingle. One of Paul's songs, "Hung Up On Love," written by Paul Levinson & Mikie Harris, and recorded by Paul's group The Other Voices for Atlantic Records in 1968 (produced by Ellie Greenwich and Mike Rashkow), was released by Rhino Handmade in February 2004 in a compilation CD album called Come To The Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets, and in 2005 in the UK as A Whole Lot of Rainbows: Soft Pop Nuggets. Entertainment Weekly gave the CD an "A-" review, calling it "inspired and strange." Steven Rosen, reviewing the compilation for Los Angeles City Beat, notices Paul's trademark internal rhyming, citing "the Other Voices� cheerfully sincere 'Hung Up on Love,' with its couplet rhyming sunshine and lunchtime." David Bash in Shindig Magazine says the compilation "may be the best compendium of soft pop the world has yet to hear" and he calls "Hung Up On Love" one of the "absolute best of the lot." Patrick Rands, writing in Gullbuy, also raves about the compilation, and then says this recording of "Hung Up On Love" is "a really exciting pop masterpiece ... which has a 5th Dimension/Tokens sound to it, really upbeat and chipper in a harmony pop kind of way." That "Tokens sound" is Paul, doing his infamous falsetto harmony, with Stu Nitekman and Ira Margolis making the magical three-part sound that The Other Voices (originally called The New Outlook) were known for.
Listen to a few sample tracks of Paul's music from 30+ years ago, which we'll be changing from time to time... right now, "Not Yet Ready to Say Goodbye" ... "Unbelievable (Inconceivable You)"... "Murray the K's Back in Town" ...
He holds a PhD in Media Theory from New York University and is founder of Connected Education, Inc., which offered graduate courses on the Internet for over a dozen years, starting in 1985. His 30-year teaching career has included positions at the New School for Social Research, Hofstra University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Polytechnic University of New York, Audrey Cohen College, St. John's University, and the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute. He is now Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, New York City, where he teaches undergraduate classes and graduate students in the Masters of Arts in Public Communications program. He was named the "2004 Teacher of the Year" by the Graduate Students Association. Paul Levinson was President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) from December 1998 through June 2001. He previously served as the organization's Vice President. Paul is a member of SFWA and of Mystery Writers of America. Paul lives near New York City with his family. His wife, Tina Vozick, is his publicist -- coordinating booksignings, appearances, interviews and other publicity matters -- contact her if you'd like to arrange a booking, or for more information. top of page latest news newest books what's aheadMeet Paul LevinsonSee and Hear Paul on the Web[offsite links]
top of page latest news newest books what's aheadRead Paul's online interviews and conversations[offsite links]
top of page latest news newest books what's aheadIn-Person and Selected On-Air Appearances - 2009
Previous Appearances:
2008;
2007;
2006;
2005;
2004;
2003;
2002;
2001;
2000
top of page latest news newest books what's aheadBibliography and Awardsan overview of Paul Levinson's writing career from 1971 in fiction and non-fiction top of page latest news newest books what's ahead
|
Stage actor Mark Shanahan has produced and narrates
an 8 hour, 7 CD abridged 
three writers
were honored by the nomination and delighted to attend the formal
Mystery Writers of America annual banquet in New York City on
May 1 - posing for posterity the next day in their normal clothes...
Email Paul Levinson
