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Of All Possible Worlds
A unique imagination illuminates all William Tenn's work. In this remarkable collection of his short stories, he ranges from the hilarious to the serious, demonstrating vividly his gift for making any dimension of reality as real and immediate as your own street. There are four or five amazing hours of reading for you in this book.
Contents:
Introduction: On the Fiction in Science Fiction
Down Among the Dead Men
Me, Myself, and I
The Liberation of Earth
Everybody Loves Irving Bommer
Flirgleflip
The Tenants
The Custodian
Contents:
Introduction: On the Fiction in Science Fiction
Down Among the Dead Men
Me, Myself, and I
The Liberation of Earth
Everybody Loves Irving Bommer
Flirgleflip
The Tenants
The Custodian
159 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
6 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
William Tenn
301 books49 followersWilliam Tenn is the pseudonym of Philip Klass. He was born in London on May 9, 1920, and emigrated to the United States with his parents before his second birthday. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. After serving in the United States Army as a combat engineer in Europe, he held a job as a technical editor with an Air Force radar and radio laboratory and was employed by Bell Labs.
He began writing in 1945 and wrote academic articles, essays, two novels, and more than 60 short stories.
His first story, 'Alexander the Bait' was published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946. Stories like 'Down Among the Dead Men', 'The Liberation of Earth', and 'The Custodian' quickly established him as a fine, funny, and thoughtful satirist.
Tenn is best-known as a satirist, and by works such as "On Venus Have We Got a Rabbi" and "Of Men and Monsters."
His stories and articles were widely anthologized, a number of them in best-of-the-year collections. From 1966, he was a Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at The Pennsylvania State University, where he taught, among other things, a popular course on science fiction.
In 1999, he was honored as Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at their annual Nebula Awards Banquet.
More information at: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topi...
He began writing in 1945 and wrote academic articles, essays, two novels, and more than 60 short stories.
His first story, 'Alexander the Bait' was published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946. Stories like 'Down Among the Dead Men', 'The Liberation of Earth', and 'The Custodian' quickly established him as a fine, funny, and thoughtful satirist.
Tenn is best-known as a satirist, and by works such as "On Venus Have We Got a Rabbi" and "Of Men and Monsters."
His stories and articles were widely anthologized, a number of them in best-of-the-year collections. From 1966, he was a Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at The Pennsylvania State University, where he taught, among other things, a popular course on science fiction.
In 1999, he was honored as Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at their annual Nebula Awards Banquet.
More information at: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topi...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 13, 2016
Before starting Of All Possible Worlds I had never heard of William Tenn (it turns out he's only written a couple of novels, but wrote a lot of short stories), and yet, reading the introduction, I was struck by how eloquent Tenn was. His defense of science fiction, published in 1955, still rings true (especially if you've ever talked to one of
those
literary fiction readers who sees no value in escapist fiction). The introduction, on its own, is a worthy essay (and I hope it is included in his "complete works").
The seven stories in this collection prove that Tenn is a writer worth reading, even if, many years later, some of them don't hold up under the weight of the genre. The problem with those stories is that they are based on (since) well-worn premises, but don't bring anything unexpected or profound to those premises. Going through them in order:
* Down among the Dead Men
Category: Zombies
Rating: 5 of 5
This story opens the book and is a perfect followup to one of the points that Tenn made in his introduction: even stories about science-of-the-future are about people. "Among Dead Men" takes place in a world where we've been at war with alien bugs for 25 years. Our population numbers are depressed and, though women are encouraged to be pregnant at all times, we turn to science to solve the problem of troop shortages. The protagonist of the story picks up his new crew of formerly dead men, but discovers that their biases against him are equally present and important as his biases against them.
It's a very human story. It deals with perceived power dynamics between "in" and "out" groups, the difficulty in breaking down barriers, and the ultimate equality of us all.
* Me, Myself, and I
Category: Man travels to the prehistoric and changes something small to large effect
Rating: 2 of 5
In this story, a dimwitted man is hired to test out a time machine. He's instructed to go back to the prehistoric, take a picture, move a rock, and come back. Naturally, he gets back and small details have changed, like the name of his employer (the time machine inventor). Small shenanigans ensue.
This story didn't bring anything to this old stand-by premise. I don't know exactly how many of these came before Tenn's version, but it seems to me that any changes to a future must be either very large or almost inperceptible. This middle ground where a person is essentially the same except for their marital status and name breaks my suspension of disbelief.
* The Liberation of Earth
Category: Benevolet alien overlords
Rating: 4 of 5
In this story alien overlords arrive to "liberate" and protect Earth. Humanity, despite the mass casualties, embraces their liberators. When Earth changes hands, the aliens that they thought were the enemy have equally compelling reasons to call themselves "liberators".
"The Liberation of Earth" is a clear satire of Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End (published a few years before) and a skillful one at that.
* Everybody Loves Irving Bommer
Category: Love potion gone wrong
Rating: 1 of 5
An old gypsy woman gives Irving Bommer a love potion. He uses too much. Exactly what you expect to happen happens.
* Flirgleflip
Category: Made up words are weird, time travel
Rating: 3 of 5
A flirgleflipper (a deliberately obscure term) is sent back in time where he is caught up by a tabloid reporter selling him as "a man from the future".
It took me two tries to get through this story. When I first got to it, I gave up about four paragraphs in. The made up words were overwhelming and akin to reading a nonsense story. It wasn't until I had finished all of the other stories that I decided to try again. Surely Tenn did not write twenty pages of nonsense. ...and he didn't. The "future" words are deliberately left vaguely defined. I can't say that it was a great story, but it was at least an interesting one.
* The Tenants
Category: personification of religious concepts/gods
Rating: 5 of 5
Tohu and Bohu, a very odd couple of men, insist on renting the 13th floor in a building that does not actually have a 13th floor. The story follows the property manager as he puzzles out what is actually happening.
This was my favorite story of the lot. There are a lot of stories out there where "the gods are real", but this is a novel twist. It is also the only story to have a female character (though not any of the main characters of the story) in the form of a Jewish secretary. She actually provides the key clue for the audience to understand what's going on.
* The Custodian
Category: last person on Earth
Rating: 4 of 5
The sun is going to explode and humanity has left the Earth behind. The protagonist shields himself from detection and manages to stay behind so that he can study humanity's artistic works uninhibited. When he discovers a child also left behind his outlook changes.
Typing the synopsis I can see why you might think of The Road, but it's nothing like that. This is an optimistic story about the value of art and human life. It brings the collection back around to Tenn's introductions and discussion of science fiction being stories about people, and, while it does break down for a little bit when listing the great artistic works, it secured my opinion of this collection as one well worth reading.
The seven stories in this collection prove that Tenn is a writer worth reading, even if, many years later, some of them don't hold up under the weight of the genre. The problem with those stories is that they are based on (since) well-worn premises, but don't bring anything unexpected or profound to those premises. Going through them in order:
* Down among the Dead Men
Category: Zombies
Rating: 5 of 5
This story opens the book and is a perfect followup to one of the points that Tenn made in his introduction: even stories about science-of-the-future are about people. "Among Dead Men" takes place in a world where we've been at war with alien bugs for 25 years. Our population numbers are depressed and, though women are encouraged to be pregnant at all times, we turn to science to solve the problem of troop shortages. The protagonist of the story picks up his new crew of formerly dead men, but discovers that their biases against him are equally present and important as his biases against them.
It's a very human story. It deals with perceived power dynamics between "in" and "out" groups, the difficulty in breaking down barriers, and the ultimate equality of us all.
* Me, Myself, and I
Category: Man travels to the prehistoric and changes something small to large effect
Rating: 2 of 5
In this story, a dimwitted man is hired to test out a time machine. He's instructed to go back to the prehistoric, take a picture, move a rock, and come back. Naturally, he gets back and small details have changed, like the name of his employer (the time machine inventor). Small shenanigans ensue.
This story didn't bring anything to this old stand-by premise. I don't know exactly how many of these came before Tenn's version, but it seems to me that any changes to a future must be either very large or almost inperceptible. This middle ground where a person is essentially the same except for their marital status and name breaks my suspension of disbelief.
* The Liberation of Earth
Category: Benevolet alien overlords
Rating: 4 of 5
In this story alien overlords arrive to "liberate" and protect Earth. Humanity, despite the mass casualties, embraces their liberators. When Earth changes hands, the aliens that they thought were the enemy have equally compelling reasons to call themselves "liberators".
"The Liberation of Earth" is a clear satire of Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End (published a few years before) and a skillful one at that.
* Everybody Loves Irving Bommer
Category: Love potion gone wrong
Rating: 1 of 5
An old gypsy woman gives Irving Bommer a love potion. He uses too much. Exactly what you expect to happen happens.
* Flirgleflip
Category: Made up words are weird, time travel
Rating: 3 of 5
A flirgleflipper (a deliberately obscure term) is sent back in time where he is caught up by a tabloid reporter selling him as "a man from the future".
It took me two tries to get through this story. When I first got to it, I gave up about four paragraphs in. The made up words were overwhelming and akin to reading a nonsense story. It wasn't until I had finished all of the other stories that I decided to try again. Surely Tenn did not write twenty pages of nonsense. ...and he didn't. The "future" words are deliberately left vaguely defined. I can't say that it was a great story, but it was at least an interesting one.
* The Tenants
Category: personification of religious concepts/gods
Rating: 5 of 5
Tohu and Bohu, a very odd couple of men, insist on renting the 13th floor in a building that does not actually have a 13th floor. The story follows the property manager as he puzzles out what is actually happening.
This was my favorite story of the lot. There are a lot of stories out there where "the gods are real", but this is a novel twist. It is also the only story to have a female character (though not any of the main characters of the story) in the form of a Jewish secretary. She actually provides the key clue for the audience to understand what's going on.
* The Custodian
Category: last person on Earth
Rating: 4 of 5
The sun is going to explode and humanity has left the Earth behind. The protagonist shields himself from detection and manages to stay behind so that he can study humanity's artistic works uninhibited. When he discovers a child also left behind his outlook changes.
Typing the synopsis I can see why you might think of The Road, but it's nothing like that. This is an optimistic story about the value of art and human life. It brings the collection back around to Tenn's introductions and discussion of science fiction being stories about people, and, while it does break down for a little bit when listing the great artistic works, it secured my opinion of this collection as one well worth reading.
January 17, 2021
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"In the early days of my website, I reviewed two volumes by William Tenn–his sole novel Of Men and Monsters (1968) and his collection The Human Angle (1956). Of All Possible Worlds (1955) is his first published collection. The presence of “Down Among the Dead Men” (1954), “The Liberation of Earth” (1953), and “The Custodian” (1953) make this a must purchase (despite the handful of duds that drag down the overall rating) for fans of polished 50s [...]"
"In the early days of my website, I reviewed two volumes by William Tenn–his sole novel Of Men and Monsters (1968) and his collection The Human Angle (1956). Of All Possible Worlds (1955) is his first published collection. The presence of “Down Among the Dead Men” (1954), “The Liberation of Earth” (1953), and “The Custodian” (1953) make this a must purchase (despite the handful of duds that drag down the overall rating) for fans of polished 50s [...]"
September 23, 2016
This is a decent collection of short stories by William Tenn, and has been added to the "Classics of Science Fiction" list by Harris and Bernado. I found it on the list of "Defining Science Fiction books of the 1950s", where I am reading one book per year as part of a challenge.
Going to try something new to review this anthology of 7 stories - title and brief likes or dislikes.
"Down Among the Dead Men" - liked the setup, loved the resolution.
"Me, Myself and I" - loved the time travel and the ending.
"Liberation of Earth" - liked the setup, didn't like the style
"Everybody Loves Irving Bommer" - didn't like the plot
"Flirgleflip" - liked the characters, loved the time travel
"The Tenants" - loved the characters, loved the resolution
"The Custodian" - didn't like the name dropping or the plot
Going to try something new to review this anthology of 7 stories - title and brief likes or dislikes.
"Down Among the Dead Men" - liked the setup, loved the resolution.
"Me, Myself and I" - loved the time travel and the ending.
"Liberation of Earth" - liked the setup, didn't like the style
"Everybody Loves Irving Bommer" - didn't like the plot
"Flirgleflip" - liked the characters, loved the time travel
"The Tenants" - loved the characters, loved the resolution
"The Custodian" - didn't like the name dropping or the plot
May 17, 2021
Con esta recopilación de relatos he caído en la trampa del exceso de expectativas. Habiendo leído en su día los relatos de Tiempo anticipado, esperaba encontrar algo similar, pero en este Mundos posibles los relatos no me parecen tan buenos, a excepción quizás del titulado El custodio. Lo curioso es que precisamente éste es el que más se aleja en esta recopilación del tono jocoso-satírico de Tenn, su supuesto punto fuerte.
El libro se compone de siete relatos más una introducción del autor que viene siendo una entretenida e incisiva defensa del género de la CF.
- Entre los muertos: no ha conectado conmigo, el problema del oficial con sus nuevos soldados y su solución me han parecido poco creíbles e irrelevantes.
- Yo, yo y siempre yo: una gracieta sobre viajes en el tiempo que no pasa de ahí.
- La liberación de la Tierra: una sátira acertada pero con poco gancho.
- Irving Bommer, el ídolo de las mujeres: un argumento muy manido al servicio de un chiste que por suerte ya no tiene gracia hoy día. Posiblemente lo peor del libro.
- Flirgleflip: el desarrollo es entretenido pero el protagonista no resulta interesante.
- Los inquilinos: no le pillo la gracia.
- El custodio: dibuja con solvencia, a través de un monólogo, una sociedad futura que representa la contraposición entre eficiencia y pragmatismo, por un lado, y la belleza y el sentimiento, por otro.
Se nota que el autor tiene oficio, pero esta colección de escritos no me ha resultado especialmente estimulante, salvo la introducción y el último relato. Sólo por ellos lo dejo en tres estrellas.
El libro se compone de siete relatos más una introducción del autor que viene siendo una entretenida e incisiva defensa del género de la CF.
- Entre los muertos: no ha conectado conmigo, el problema del oficial con sus nuevos soldados y su solución me han parecido poco creíbles e irrelevantes.
- Yo, yo y siempre yo: una gracieta sobre viajes en el tiempo que no pasa de ahí.
- La liberación de la Tierra: una sátira acertada pero con poco gancho.
- Irving Bommer, el ídolo de las mujeres: un argumento muy manido al servicio de un chiste que por suerte ya no tiene gracia hoy día. Posiblemente lo peor del libro.
- Flirgleflip: el desarrollo es entretenido pero el protagonista no resulta interesante.
- Los inquilinos: no le pillo la gracia.
- El custodio: dibuja con solvencia, a través de un monólogo, una sociedad futura que representa la contraposición entre eficiencia y pragmatismo, por un lado, y la belleza y el sentimiento, por otro.
Se nota que el autor tiene oficio, pero esta colección de escritos no me ha resultado especialmente estimulante, salvo la introducción y el último relato. Sólo por ellos lo dejo en tres estrellas.
March 3, 2022
This collection is mostly bad with one worthwhile exception - the very last story!
It's a real chore to get to "The Custodian" and I wish I would have known how skippable everything else in here is because I read it all. He was compared to Robert Sheckley on Goodreads so I figured I'd give him a shot. As a Sheckley fan I have to say Tenn is nowhere near as good. His characters aren't endearing, he takes so much longer to get to the point and his sense of humor falls flat (and you can tell he's trying too hard).
The Introduction - very dated, not important anymore.
Down Among the Dead Men - 2.5 - this one got a lot of praise over the years from a lot of folks, but ugh, what a chore.
Me, Myself & I - 2- Groan! Time travel that's dumb.
The Liberation of Earth - 2.5 - Not very funny, I get it already!
Everybody Loves Irving Bomber - 1 - Super dumb.
Flirgleflip - 1 - So dumb!
The Tenants - 3 - Basically Twilight Zone episode. Very obvious.
The Custodian - 4.5? - Beautiful story. Highly recommended read if you come across this anywhere.
Skip the rest.
It's a real chore to get to "The Custodian" and I wish I would have known how skippable everything else in here is because I read it all. He was compared to Robert Sheckley on Goodreads so I figured I'd give him a shot. As a Sheckley fan I have to say Tenn is nowhere near as good. His characters aren't endearing, he takes so much longer to get to the point and his sense of humor falls flat (and you can tell he's trying too hard).
The Introduction - very dated, not important anymore.
Down Among the Dead Men - 2.5 - this one got a lot of praise over the years from a lot of folks, but ugh, what a chore.
Me, Myself & I - 2- Groan! Time travel that's dumb.
The Liberation of Earth - 2.5 - Not very funny, I get it already!
Everybody Loves Irving Bomber - 1 - Super dumb.
Flirgleflip - 1 - So dumb!
The Tenants - 3 - Basically Twilight Zone episode. Very obvious.
The Custodian - 4.5? - Beautiful story. Highly recommended read if you come across this anywhere.
Skip the rest.
October 31, 2023
I listened to this as part of The 11th Science Fiction Megapack. It was very interesting with will developed characters lots of action and misdirection leading to the conclustion. 2023
pulbished in the 1950s
pulbished in the 1950s
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November 11, 2013
A surprisingly lighthearted and thoughtful collection of stories! The first and the last I particularly liked:
- Team building with your zombie kamikaze bomber squad.
- Using a stooge to test your time-travel machine.
- A history of the destructive 'liberations' of earth (again and again).
- Love potion works too well.
- A future music historian is sent back in time but cannot effectively communicate because all his terms sound like nonsense.
- An odd business rents the non-existent 13th floor of an office building.
- One man is dead-set to stay behind as civilization heads to the stars just before the sun is predicted to go nova... until something changes his mind.
I loved the tone and optimism in the characters and the writing, even when the stories didn't have happy endings. A shortcoming in the collection is its lack of diversity--all the characters were male except for a couple secretaries, a gypsy, and a dead mother. Nonetheless I enjoyed the stories and will be looking for more from this author!
[I have the second edition of this book, printed 1960, with a different cover... I didn't want to add a new edition]
- Team building with your zombie kamikaze bomber squad.
- Using a stooge to test your time-travel machine.
- A history of the destructive 'liberations' of earth (again and again).
- Love potion works too well.
- A future music historian is sent back in time but cannot effectively communicate because all his terms sound like nonsense.
- An odd business rents the non-existent 13th floor of an office building.
- One man is dead-set to stay behind as civilization heads to the stars just before the sun is predicted to go nova... until something changes his mind.
I loved the tone and optimism in the characters and the writing, even when the stories didn't have happy endings. A shortcoming in the collection is its lack of diversity--all the characters were male except for a couple secretaries, a gypsy, and a dead mother. Nonetheless I enjoyed the stories and will be looking for more from this author!
[I have the second edition of this book, printed 1960, with a different cover... I didn't want to add a new edition]
March 22, 2013
One of my favorite Tenn stories is "The Liberation of Earth" and my favorite passage is:
"Educated in the Troxxtian language, that is.
True it was that a large number found themselves utterly inadequate for the task which the Troxxt had set them, and temporarily became servants to the more successful students. And another, albeit smaller, group developed various forms of frustration hysteria—ranging from mild unhappiness to complete catatonic depression—over the difficulties presented by a language whose every verb was irregular, and whose myriads of prepositions were formed by noun-adjective combinations derived from the subject of the previous sentence. But, eventually, eleven human beings were released, to blink madly in the sunlight as certified interpreters of Troxxt."
The Troxxtian language - Navaho meets Russian.
"Educated in the Troxxtian language, that is.
True it was that a large number found themselves utterly inadequate for the task which the Troxxt had set them, and temporarily became servants to the more successful students. And another, albeit smaller, group developed various forms of frustration hysteria—ranging from mild unhappiness to complete catatonic depression—over the difficulties presented by a language whose every verb was irregular, and whose myriads of prepositions were formed by noun-adjective combinations derived from the subject of the previous sentence. But, eventually, eleven human beings were released, to blink madly in the sunlight as certified interpreters of Troxxt."
The Troxxtian language - Navaho meets Russian.
September 21, 2021
I really like this collection of William Tenn's stories. Very fun to read, pretty much like Sheckley, but not so resourcefully. And some stories just break in a half, without revealing pledged ideas. Just several good fantastic things, generally. It's hard to formulate one big opinion of this book. Stories are variety and their themes too. If you like kind'a humorous fantastic subjects - check it out.
I began to read seven more books by this author. Some stories repeat from one book to another. So, you can count this short review universally for every of them.
I began to read seven more books by this author. Some stories repeat from one book to another. So, you can count this short review universally for every of them.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews