American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 19531956: The Space Merchants / More Than Human / The Long Tomorrow / The Shrinking Man

Modern science fiction came of age in the 1950s, and it was in America that the genre broke most exuberantly free from convention. Moving beyond the pulp magazines, science fiction writers stretched their imaginations at novel length, ushering in an era of stylistic experiment and freewheeling speculation that responded in wildly inventive ways to the challenges and perplexities of an era of global threat and rapid technological change. Long unnoticed or dismissed by the literary establishment, these “outsider” novels are now recognized as American classics. This, the first of two volumes surveying the decade’s peaks, presents four very different visions of uncertain futures and malleable selves. Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants (1953), acclaimed in its day by Kingsley Amis as “the best science fiction novel so far,” brought a ferocious, satiric edge to its depiction of a future world dominated by multinational advertising agencies. In Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human (1953), a group of damaged individuals finds a strange new fulfillment in what may be the next stage of evolution. Leigh Brackett was one of the first women to make her mark as a science fiction novelist. In The Long Tomorrow (1955), she pits anti-urban technophobes against the remnants of a civilization that destroyed itself through nuclear war. The hero of Richard Matheson’s fable-like The Shrinking Man (1956), condemned to grow ever smaller by a mysterious cloud, moves through humiliations and perils toward what Peter Straub calls “a real surprise . . . a fresh, wide-eyed step into a world both beautiful and new.” Here are four classic novels that, each in a different way, open fresh territory, broaching untried possibilities and brimming with the energies of an age fearfully conscious of standing on the brink of the unknown. This, the first of two volumes surveying the decade's peaks, presents four very different visions of uncertain futures and malleable selves. Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth's The Space Merchants (1953), acclaimed in its day by Kingsley Amis as "the best science fiction novel so far," brought a ferocious, satiric edge to its depiction of a future world dominated by multinational advertising agencies. In Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human (1953), a group of damaged individuals finds a strange new fulfillment in what may be the next stage of evolution. Leigh Brackett was one of the first women to make her mark as a science fiction novelist. In The Long Tomorrow (1955), she pits anti-urban technophobes against the remnants of a civilization that destroyed itself through nuclear war. The hero of Richard Matheson's fable-like The Shrinking Man (1956), condemned to grow ever smaller by a mysterious cloud, moves through humiliations and perils toward what Peter Straub calls "a real surprise . . . a fresh, wide-eyed step into a world both beautiful and new." Here are four classic novels that, each in a different way, open fresh territory, broaching untried possibilities and brimming with the energies of an age fearfully conscious of standing on the brink of the unknown. -- Dust jacket Following Its Acclaimed Three-volume Edition Of The Novels Of Science Fiction Master Philip K. Dick, The Library Of America Now Presents A Two-volume Anthology Of Nine Groundbreaking Works From The Golden Age Of The Modern Science Fiction Novel, Works By Turns Satiric, Adventurous, Incisive, And Hauntingly Lyrical. Long Unnoticed Or Dismissed By The Literary Establishment, These Visionary Outsider Novels Grappled In Fresh Ways With A World In Rapid Transformation And Have Gradually Been Recognized As American Classics That Opened New Imaginative Territory In American Writing. This First Volume Contains: Frederik Pohl & C.m. Kornbluth / The Space Merchantstheodore Sturgeon / More Than Humanleigh Brackett / The Long Tomorrowrichard Matheson / The Shrinking Man. The Space Merchants / Frederik Pohl And C.m. Kornbluth -- More Than Human / Theodore Sturgeon -- The Long Tomorrow / Leigh Brackett -- The Shrinking Man / Richard Matheson. Gary K. Wolfe, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 777-782). "Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth{u2019}s The Space Merchants (1953), acclaimed in its day by Kingsley Amis as 'The best science fiction novel so far,' brought a ferocious, satiric edge to its depiction of a future world dominated by multinational advertising agencies. In Theodore Sturgeon{u2019}s More Than Human (1953), a group of damaged individuals finds a strange new fulfillment in what may be the next stage of evolution. Leigh Brackett was one of the first women to make her mark as a science fiction novelist. In The Long Tomorrow (1955), she pits anti-urban technophobes against the remnants of a civilization that destroyed itself through nuclear war. The hero of Richard Matheson{u2019}s fable-like The Shrinking Man (1956), condemned to grow ever smaller by a mysterious cloud, moves through humiliations and perils toward what Peter Straub calls 'a real surprise . . . a fresh, wide-eyed step into a world both beautiful and new.'"--From publisher description