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American Literature

SDSU Special Collections

These entries describe historical primary source collections available for research in Special Collections at the SDSU Library. Special Collections houses unique archival and manuscript collections, rare books and manuscripts, and graphic/ephemera collections.

Print Collections

Manuscript and Archival Collections

Unprocessed Collections Forthcoming

  • Larry McCaffery Collection - Larry McCaffery is a literary critic, editor, and retired professor of English Literature at San Diego State University. McCaffery co-edited Fiction International with Harold Jaffe for years and is well known for his cyberpunk anthology, Storming the Reality Studio, which features the work of authors such as J.G. Ballard, William Gibson, Samuel R. Delany, Don DeLillo, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley, Rudy Rucker, Richard Kadrey, Pat Cadigan, Lewis Shiner and Kathy Acker, as well as non-fiction by writers such as Jean Baudrillard and Jacques Derrida. McCaffery was a major proponent of "Avant-pop" literature during the 1990s, and also published, along with his wife, Sinda Gregory, an influential series of interviews with contemporary authors. Special Collections holds hundreds of volumes (many first editions, personally inscribed to McCaffery by the author) from his personal library. Authors represented in McCaffery's library include the aforementioned, as well as numerous other post-modern and speculative fiction writers such as Raymond Carver, Raymond Federman, David Foster Wallace, William T. Vollmann, and Mark Z. Danielewski. Special Collections also holds the Larry McCaffery Papers, which consist of manuscript drafts, research files, recorded interviews, and personal and professional correspondence spanning McCaffery's career. While the manuscript collection is currently being processed, many volumes from McCaffery's library have already been added to the library catalog. Search by title "Larry McCaffery Collection" in the library catalog to view a list of titles that have been cataloged to date.
  • Greg Bear Papers - Special Collections holds a small collection of Greg Bear's literary manuscripts, including drafts, corrected galleys, and correspondence. This collection is currently unprocessed but is available for use. Please contact Special Collections for more information.