stand on zanzibar, published in 1968, is a gem of speculative fiction that gets so much right that it is easy to forgive the things it didn't get quite as right. in the future world it describes (set in the early years of the twenty-first centry: otherwise known as now), overpopulation is the central problem, with population controls (two “prodgies” per couple) and expanding eugenics legislation (no more dichromatics!) part of the existing (non-)solution. there's just so much jammed into the novel that it is hard to describe. it is written with a very mtv-era pacing and sensibility despite antedating that network by more than a decade. very much worth reading, especially if you like the genre.

(this found its way on to my reading list by virtue of a mention on the fork mailing list. the only circulating copy of the sequel, the sheep look up, in the los angeles public library system is at a branch that is closed. argh!)