John Norman is the pen name of John Frederick Lange, Jr. (born June 3, 1931), is the author of the Gor series, which was popular in the 1970s (millions of copies sold). He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton and is a professor at the Queens College in New York City.

Contents 1 Books 2 Personal Views 3 Career 4 External links

Books

Science fiction:

• Chronicles of Gor (also Chronicles of Counter-Earth) (1967-2001)
• The Telnarian Histories (1991-1993)

Historical fiction:

• Time Slave (1975)
• Ghost Dance (1979)

Nonfiction:

• Imaginative Sex (1974)

Norman is a protégé of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and his influential Gor series bears parallels to Burroughs' John Carter of Mars. His novels include lengthy philosophical and sociological dissertations contrasting the malaise of modern society (everything from common dishonesty to nuclear holocaust) with the remedial beauty of natural society. Placing emphasis on living in accordance with a Nietzsche-esque natural order, he sponsors a hierarchy of talent.

From this hierarchy and his use of evolutionary psychology to analyze gender differences, he then suggests that woman is the submissive natural helper, and figurative slave, of dominant man. His work often, but not always, takes this observation literally: heroes enslave heroines who, upon being enslaved, revel in the discovery of their natural place. Norman and Goreans have been criticized for this tenet of what they consider honoring nature.

Personal Views

Some enthusiasts believe Imaginative Sex indicates that Norman is not a misogynist but rather a pioneer in human sexual behavior firmly entrenched in BDSM's fantasy and safe, sane and consensual elements. However, this favourable reading is by no means universal; lesbians and feminists are presented in a very poor light, and the book casts women almost exclusively in a submissive role.

Norman, also a political activist, modified his alignment from conservative to libertarian during his effective censorship. The extent to which he himself is Gorean is unclear.

Career

Norman's career as a philosopher/writer underwent four stages:

1. Early 1950s-early 1960s: Norman begins his academic career. He obtains his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska in 1953, and his Master of Arts degree from the University of Southern California in 1957. While at USC he married Bernice L. Green. Norman became a Doctor of Philosophy in 1963 from the Princeton University.
2. Late 1960s-early 1980s: Norman becomes wildly popular. His rise may be attributed to the willingness of rebellious or disaffected Americans during this period to consider his social alternatives.
3. Mid 1980s-mid 1990s: Increasing political correctness, especially feminism, prompted consumers and interest groups to take action against the sale of Norman's books, including petitioning retailers. Norman's books were removed from bookstores and libraries, and Norman accused publishers of blacklisting him.
4. Late 1990s-present: Acceptance of BDSM and growth of the Internet allowed the resurgence of Norman's ideas without the consent of normal publishing channels. Goreans assembled on the Internet and in real life while smaller publishers attempted, with limited success, to bring Norman back.

External links

• John Norman's World of Gor
• New World Publishers
• Recent open letter by Norman noting his discrimination and expressing his libertarianism
• Google cache of Usenet group discussing Norman's work (alt.books.gor)
• Older (1998) sketch of John Norman's life
• Bits on Nietzsche and Norman, examination of the influence of Nietzsche on the Gor series
• Houseplants of Gor, a parody of Norman's prose style by Ellerol Elvish