Wordburglar on why you should read the sci-fi classic The Stars My Destination

Hip hop artist Sean Jordan Volpe, also known as Wordburglar, recommends reading the classic science fiction novel, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. This interview originally aired on November 9, 2015.

It's a science fiction novel from 1956. It follows Gully Foyle, who is a mechanic on a spaceship, and finds himself adrift and marooned alone for six months, alone and waiting for help. Gully is uneducated. He's unskilled. He has no real ambition in life. He's sitting marooned in space, waiting for someone to come save him, and one day a spaceship comes and they pass him by. This ignites something inside Gully and transforms him from a hapless dude at the dead end of his life, into a one-track minded revenge machine. It's an amazing novel. I first heard about this book 10 years ago. I was reading about the best science fiction novels that had never been adapted into film. For whatever reason, The Stars My Destination was at the top of everybody's list. It's an incredible story filled with action suspense, mystery, adventure rollicking twists and turns. Even if you don't like sci-fi, you should check this book out.

Sean Jordan Volpe's comments have been edited and condensed.