J. Jesse Ramírez is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland.

• Preface The Dreams in Which I’m Dying Introduction The Uses of Pseudo-Apocalypse Chapter 1 The Last American: Earth Abides, Speculative Anthropology, and Settler Utopianism Chapter 2 The Revelation of Philip K. Dick Chapter 3 National Insecurity in Night of the Living DeadChapter 4 How to Bring Your Kids Up Alien: Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy Chapter 5 Waiting for the Martians: Independence Day and the Second American Century Conclusion Pseudo-Apocalypse after the American Century

‘The tone throughout ties together the impressive mix of genre theory, cultural interpretation, political commentary, intellectual history, and biography. It balances critical theory with interpretation and argument in the exegesis of its five central texts/ideological formations. It is a pleasure to think with and a delight to read. Un-American Dreams is worth reading for those interested in the complex workings of hope for and deferral of radical alternatives to the present state of things. It is a coherent and cohesive project that presents deep research on its material from solid footing in a critical tradition. For these reasons and more, it is worth thinking with Ramírez about how to resuscitate hope the hard way, through an immanent critique of hope’s shadowy form in apocalyptic sf of the American century.’ Brent Ryan Bellamy, Science Fiction Studies