Synopsis "American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950S"
Contains:American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1953—1956Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth / The Space MerchantsTheodore Sturgeon / More Than HumanLeigh Brackett / The Long TomorrowRichard Matheson / The Shrinking Man978-1-59853-158-9 American Science Fiction: Five Classic Novels 1956—1958Robert Heinlein / Double StarAlfred Bester / The Stars My DestinationJames Blish / A Case of ConscienceAlgis Budrys / Who?Fritz Leiber / The Big Time978-159853-159-6Following 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. Long unnoticed or dismissed by the literary establishment, these “outsider” novels have gradually been recognized as American classics. Here are genre-defining works by such masters as Robert Heinlein, Richard Matheson, James Blish, and Alfred Bester. The themes range from time travel (Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time) to post-apocalyptic survival (Leigh Brackett’s The Long Tomorrow), from the prospect of a future dominated by multinational advertising agencies (Pohl and Kornbluth’s The Space Merchants) to the very nature of human identity in a technological age (Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human and Algis Budrys’s Who?). The range of styles is equally diverse, by turns satiric, adventurous, incisive, and hauntingly lyrical. Grappling in fresh ways with a world in rapid transformation, these visionary novels opened new imaginative territory in American writing.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.
