I have just discovered this book and make a strong recommendation of it. It is called THE VAMPIRE LECTURES. The author is a professor at U.C. Santa Barbara. His name is Laurence A. Rickels. The publisher sent me the book, and I am very glad that they did because Professor Rickels has a great deal to say in THE VAMPIRE LECTURES about the first three books of the Vampire Chronicles as well as about other vampire literature and film in general.
According to the info that came with the book, Professor Rickels' class on vampires has apparently become extremely popular over the years, on the Santa Barbara Campus. He started with a few students and he now has hundreds.
I am quite amazed by many of his observations in the book, but above all, I'm honored to be included as a subject for study. The book is quite intellectually hefty.
I think many of you will find this book interesting. Some of you will find it extremely challenging and engrossing. Many of you will find it satisfying. It's the ultimate book to give to anyone who makes fun of you for liking vampire novels or films. To quote the publisher, the book "makes an original and intellectually rigorous contribution to literary and psychoanalytic theory, identifying the subconscious meanings, complex symbolism, and philosophical arguments-- particularly those of Marx, Freud, and Nietzche--embedded in vampirism and gothic literature."
I've ordered several copies of the book from Amazon.com so I know it's available. It's published by the University of Minnesota Press. Again, I recommend it. It is not easy going as a read but it is incredibly rich and thought provoking. I'm grateful for it. When I write novels, I think and feel as Lestat or Louis or Armand, and it's wonderful to read Professor Rickels' commentary on what I've done.
Anne Rice (Submitted by Anne Rice, author)
