"Philip Jose Farmer - 1952-1964" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farmer Phillip Jose)

The Classic Philip Jose Farmer
1952-1964
Edited and Introduction by Martin H. Greenberg

Foreword by Isaac Asimov

Series Editor: George Zebrowski

CROWN PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK

Contents

Retrieving the Lost by Isaac Asimov

Introduction by Martin H. Greenberg

Sail On! Sail On!

Mother

The God Business

The Alley Man

My Sisters Brother

The King of Beasts

Retrieving the Lost

by Isaac Asimov

The history of contemporary science fiction begins with the spring of 1926, when the first magazine ever
to be devoted entirely to science fiction made its appearance. For a quarter-century thereafter science
fiction continued to appear in magazinesтАФand only in magazines.

They were wonderful days for those of us who lived through them, but there was a flaw. Magazines are,
by their very nature, ephemeral. They are on the newsstands a month or two and are gone. A very few
readers may save their issues, but they are fragile and do not stand much handling.

Beginning in 1950, science fiction in book form began to make its appearance, and some of the books
retrieved the magazine short stories and serials in the form of collections, anthologies and novels. As time
went on, however, it became clear that the vast majority of science-fiction books were in paperback
form, and these, too, were ephemeral. Their stay on the newsstands is not entirely calendar-bound, and
they can withstand a bit more handling than periodicals canтАФbut paperbacks tend to be, like magazines,
throwaway items.

That leaves the hardback book, which finds its way into public libraries as well as private homes, and
which is durable. Even there, we have deficiencies. The relatively few science-fiction books which appear
in hardback usually appear in small printings and few, if any, reprintings. Out-of-print is the usual fate,