Absolutely, Cal! I think that part of the problem is that there is a false dichomoty set up between mainstream fiction and SF&F. Fantasy and SF tends to get put in its own little ghetto, and many fans and writers are perfectly happy with that. A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson, Salman Rushdie, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez all write what could, IMHO, be considered fantasy, but usually get classified as mainstream authors. AFAIK, SF&F magazines and newsgroups don’t really review or discuss these books much, which is a shame. And on the other hand, you have authors like LeGuin, who are just damn good writers period, but who don’t get enough respect from the mainstream literary world, b/c they write about the future.
Yes! Umm, didn’t mean to sound so enthusiastic about being a dick-head…Philip K. Dick is not my favorite author (that would be C.S. Lewis - Narnia is good, but 'Til We Have Faces rules!), but I do have many of his books. His writing is unusual, strange - and funny! I got a bunch of his books last Christmas - and I liked them all. I think, for some reason, my favorite is one you didn’t mention - Ubik. It just hit me in the right way. I don’t consider myself a serious Dick-head though - just a minor one.
As for the rest - I am a geek, but not a RPG geek. I like Buffy, Angel, Xena - but only like TNG of any of the Star Trek series. My bookshelf has a complete series of Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury - but it also has Douglas Coupland, Tom Robbins, G.K. Chesterton, and Edith Wharton! I consider myself about a 7 on the geek spectrum.
Susan
This makes you dislike science fiction and fantasy? Just because “dweebs and nerds” like it? It’s not cool enough for you?
I’ve met store owners like this one. Hating his customers only got him one fate: out of business.
I really want to go on with this, but it’s more appropriate for a rant in the Pit. See you there!
Maybe I’m pointing out the obvious, but this thread is a perfect example of what I mentioned before. It totally got hijacked into a sci-fi discussion thread.
But it’s all good. I’ll go read some Marlowe. You guys can talk amongst yourselves. 
I don’t care for Sci-Fi or Fantasy either.
RPG is role-playing game, right? Like Dungeons and Dragons?
I’m with Nacho4Sara on the literature choices.
It also seems to me that whenever there is a “What are you reading?/What do you recommend to read?” thread, 90% of the responses are exclusively Sci-Fi/Fantasy books.
I know some people here have made disdainful comments about the Oprah’s Book Club books, but I like them.
I like Jane Austen and Charlotte and Emily Bronte.
I like Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich and John Grisham.
I like Ken Follett and Nelson DeMille and Jeffrey Archer.
I like Maeve Binchy and A. Manette Ansay.
I like an occasional good romance, not the Harlequin shit, but once in a while, something by LaVryle Spencer or Mary Jo Putney is fun to read.
As for Sci-Fi, I liked Quantum Leap and Men In Black, I liked the Star Wars movies, but I haven’t seen the Episode 1 movie yet (waiting for cable).
I like some Stephen King and some Dean Koontz. Are they considered SF or horror?
What I am about to admit to may come as a huge shock to some but here goes:
I have NEVER, EVER watched any of the Star Trek shows. Not the original, not any of the spin-offs. Never. The only Star Trek movie I saw was the one where they come back to Earth to take the whales.
Why is The Princess Bride considered Sci-Fi? I liked the movie, but have not read the book.
Get rid of George Clooney, add John Cusack and/or Aiden Quinn and that’s my idea of a fantasy… 
I was forced to watch one episode of Star Trek in a Philosophy class. I actually used to have quite a few impassioned debates with my prof about sci fi’s worth at a genre, which is why I’m now pretty laidback about the whole argument.
I’ve only seen that one, and I haveno interest in seeing any more.
And Kinsey, I would gladly invite either John or Aiden into my pool of jello. I will also proudly admit to reading most of the books Oprah has chosen (although I’d read at least half before she picked them). I don’t like them all, but she does make decent choices. I’m not so fond of the discussions (if the child in the book has Tourette’s, then they pick adults with children with Tourette’s or adults living with Tourette’s or doctors of patients with Tourette’s, which kind of makes for boring discussions.)
But she gets people to read, and that rocks.
If Magic counts as a RPG, I used to own a deck. But I could never figure out the rules, so I ended up using the prettiest cards in my artwork. The rest I gave away.
Nope. Not a fan of sci-fi/fantasy at all. I used to read the stuff back in 6th/7th grade, along with Stephen King, but I quickly moved on to a diet of (mostly) non-fiction. I do occasionally read fiction, but the only genre stuff I ever read is hard-boiled/noir fiction. I’ve heard people like Philip K. Dick and William Gibson have written books that attempt to bridge the two genres (SF & noir), but I’m not intrigued enough to find out for myself.
I used to be a big ST-TNG and DS9 fan (just ask the ever patient mouthbreather), but other than the (very) occasional sci-fi movie or novel I’ve never really been able to get into the whole sci-fi/fantasy thing. I don’t hate it…but I don’t prefer it, either. I mostly read non-fiction and I think I liked ST because I’ve always considered myself a sort of amatuer anthropologist and that was an extension of my interest in other cultures.
I’m also very fond of folklore, so I dig learning about vampires, werewolves, and other mythical critters. However, I DON’T like sitting around a table bragging about my 100-sided die and pretending I’m one of them. Yes, I’ve tried it on several occasions and it just seemed damned silly to me.
SF, or Marlowe? SF, or Marlowe? Oh, the soul-searing pain of divided loyalties! :eek: 
(So what shall it be? Doctor Faustus? Edward II? Or even Tamburlaine? :D)
It’s not; did someone say it was? I missed that. The Princess Bride is fantasy, but many people lump fantasy and SF together as one genre, just because there’s so much overlap between the fans.
Come on! Somebody posts a thread asking who DISLIKES anything, you think there aren’t going to be people who tell why they like it? Heck, you post a thread on a general interest message board decrying child porn, at least one NAMBLA member will probably show. Finding your posts interesting, I checked your profile. You list “astroplaning to the moon every night”. Of course that probably means something different than I was thinking…
Mea Culpa. I am a long time SciFi fan. I played RPGs in high school. I have collected comic books since I was ten. But I am a closet geek. I would flat out LIE in school to avoid people knowing of my habits. I once pretended not to know who the Incredible Hulk was because I didn’t want anyone to know. Of course, rationally I should have known that the Hulk is universally known, but I was in loser denial. I once quit reading them in college when I had my first “stay the night” girlfriend. So, I of all people understand the geek stigma. But that said, there are some very good writers in the field. Some of it may not be high art,but it is a pretty decent. Not all SciFi is produced by Jerry bruckheimer!
I guess because people lump SF and Fantsy together, The Princess Bride is often mentioned in SF threads. I wouldn’t have said it was fantasy, it’s more like a fairy tale to me, and I imagine the fantasy stuff as Dungeons and Dragons, the wild other-word kind of thing.