The New Improved Sun, subtitled "An Anthology of Utopian S-F", is an anthology of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 stories edited by Thomas M. Disch

Thomas M. Disch

Thomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...

, published in hardcover

Hardcover

A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...

 by Harper & Row in 1975. No later editions are reported. Many of the stories are original to the volume.

Contents

• "Introduction: Buck Rogers in the New Jerusalem", Thomas M. Disch
• "Heavens Below: Fifteen Utopias", John Sladek
  John Sladek
  John Thomas Sladek was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels.- Life and work :...
  
   (original)
• "Repairing the Office", Charles Naylor (original)
• "What You Get for Your Dollar", Brian W. Aldiss (from The Shape of Further Things, 1970)
• "The People of Prashad", James Keilty (Quark/2
  Quark/2
  Quark/2 is a 1971 anthology of short stories and poetry edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker. It is the second volume in the Quark series. The stories and poems are original to this anthology.-Contents:...
  
  1971)
• "A Few Things I Know About Whileaway", Joanna Russ (The Female Man
  The Female Man
  The Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...
  
  1975)
• "Drumble", Cassandra Nye (original)
• "A Clear Day in the Motor City", Eleanor Arnason
  Eleanor Arnason
  Eleanor Atwood Arnason is an American author of science fiction novels and short stories.Arnason is the daughter of H. Harvard Arnason, who became the director of the Walker Art Center in 1951, and Elizabeth Yard Arnason, a social worker by profession who has spent her childhood in China...
  
   (New Worlds 6
  New Worlds (magazine)
  New Worlds was a British science fiction magazine which was first published professionally in 1946. For 25 years it was widely considered the leading science fiction magazine in Britain, publishing 201 issues up to 1971...
  
   1973)
• "Settling the World", M. John Harrison
  M. John Harrison
  M. John Harrison , known as Mike Harrison, is an English author and critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels and short stories, , Climbers , and the Kefahuchi Tract series which begins with Light . He currently resides in London.-Early years:Harrison was born in Rugby,...
  
   (original)
• "Instead of the Cross, the Lollipop", B. F. Skinner
  B. F. Skinner
  Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...
  
   (from Walden Two
  Walden Two
  Walden Two is a utopian novel written by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner, first published in 1948. In its time, it could have been considered to be science fiction, as the methods employed to alter people's behaviour did not yet exist....
  
   1948)
• "I Always Do What Teddy Says," Harry Harrison
  Harry Harrison
  Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
  
   (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
  Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is an American monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction...
  
  1965)
• "Pyramids for Minnesota: A Serious Proposal", Thomas M. Disch (Harper's Magazine
  Harper's Magazine
  Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
  
  1974)
• "The Zen Archer", Jonathan Greenblatt (original)
• "The Hero as Werwolf", Gene Wolfe
  Gene Wolfe
  Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...
  
   (original)
• "The Change", H. G. Wells
  H. G. Wells
  Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
  
   (from In the Days of the Comet
  In the Days of the Comet
  In the Days of the Comet is a 1906 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells in which the vapors of a comet are used as a device which brings about a profound and lasting transformation in the attitudes and perspectives of humankind.-Plot summary:...
  
  , 1906)

Each of the vignettes in Sladek's "Fifteen Utopias" carries an individual subtitle. "Cassandra Nye" is a pseudonym of Charles Naylor.

Reception

Writing in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Gerald Jonas noted that while the anthology's contents contradicted its subtitle, being mostly satires and dystopias, "Disch knows exactly what he is doing: he points out in a brief introduction that prescriptive Utopias tend to be not only dull but also silly and repugnant."