Imaginary Magnitude

A collection of prefaces, introductions, and critical reviews — written for books that do not exist. Stanisław Lem, one of the most intellectually ambitious science fiction writers of the twentieth century, presents texts including the introduction to a fictional encyclopedia generated entirely by a computer, a review of a book that teaches readers to create life, and the prospectus for a device that records and replays human experience. Each piece is a complete and persuasive work of para-literature that raises profound questions about the nature of knowledge, authorship, and the limits of human understanding. Playful, erudite, and frequently dizzying, Imaginary Magnitude is a unique literary experiment from the author of Solaris and The Cyberiad. Translated from the Polish by Marc E. Heine.

Stanisław Herman Lem (12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish author known for his contributions to science fiction, philosophy, and literary criticism. Born in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), Lem initially pursued medical studies, which, though unfinished due to fears of military conscription and discomfort with medical practice, laid the groundwork for his scientifically rigorous and p …