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This Is Me, Jack Vance! … Or More Properly This is "I"
Enjoy the ride as Jack Vance takes you on an informal trip through his life. Starting with his memories of childhood in a privileged San Francisco family, Vance leads us through lean times, picking fruit during the Depression, pranks at Cal, experiences at sea during the War, his early writing, and life in California in general, before marrying Norma; then a hard-working adulthood distinguished by writing, travel, colorfully noisy parties, and through it all- a deep love of traditional jazz music. Fans of Vance's writing will enjoy glimpses of the events which shaped and colored his fiction. Includes a photo section with 65 pictures.
213 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Jack Vance
806 books1,644 followersAka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, Ellery Queen, Alan Wade.
John Holbrook Vance was an American writer widely celebrated for his imaginative contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and mystery literature. Over a career that spanned more than six decades, he became known for richly detailed worlds, inventive language, and stories that combined adventure with sharp social observation. His work influenced generations of speculative fiction writers and helped expand the literary possibilities of the genre. Vance wrote more than sixty books and numerous short stories, many first appearing in science fiction magazines before later being expanded into novels and collections. His fiction was widely translated and developed an international readership.
Vance grew up in California and spent part of his youth on a ranch near the Sacramento River delta, where he developed a love of the outdoors and an appetite for reading. The family experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression, prompting him to take a variety of jobs before completing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. During these years he worked in several trades and cultivated interests in music, travel, and sailing, experiences that later informed many of the settings and themes in his fiction. Before becoming a full-time writer he held numerous occupations, including shipyard worker, merchant seaman, carpenter, and surveyor.
His earliest published story appeared in the mid 1940s in a science fiction magazine, marking the beginning of a long writing career. Throughout the following decades he produced stories across multiple genres, though he became best known for science fiction and fantasy cycles that combined imaginative settings with elaborate cultures and social systems. Among his most famous works are The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle, both of which received Hugo Awards. The Last Castle also earned the Nebula Award, confirming Vance's reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in speculative fiction. His fantasy trilogy Lyonesse later received the World Fantasy Award, while his memoir This Is Me, Jack Vance! earned another Hugo decades later.
In addition to speculative fiction, Vance wrote several mystery novels, some under pseudonyms including Ellery Queen. These works often blended crime elements with psychological or social themes and sometimes anticipated ideas that later appeared in his science fiction. His storytelling frequently emphasized cultural conflict, moral ambiguity, and intricate social customs rather than large-scale warfare, setting him apart from many contemporaries in the genre.
Vance maintained close friendships with other science fiction writers and participated in literary communities that shaped postwar American speculative fiction. He traveled widely with his family and spent extended periods abroad, experiences that influenced the exotic settings and cosmopolitan tone found in many of his books. Music also played a role in his life and writing, reflecting his long-standing enthusiasm for traditional jazz.
Despite gradually losing his eyesight later in life, Vance continued writing with the aid of specialized software and completed both fiction and autobiography in his later years. Over time his reputation grew steadily, and he received numerous honors, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and recognition as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Critics and fellow writers often praised his distinctive style, wit, and imagination, and his stories remain widely read within the science fiction and fantasy community.
John Holbrook Vance was an American writer widely celebrated for his imaginative contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and mystery literature. Over a career that spanned more than six decades, he became known for richly detailed worlds, inventive language, and stories that combined adventure with sharp social observation. His work influenced generations of speculative fiction writers and helped expand the literary possibilities of the genre. Vance wrote more than sixty books and numerous short stories, many first appearing in science fiction magazines before later being expanded into novels and collections. His fiction was widely translated and developed an international readership.
Vance grew up in California and spent part of his youth on a ranch near the Sacramento River delta, where he developed a love of the outdoors and an appetite for reading. The family experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression, prompting him to take a variety of jobs before completing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. During these years he worked in several trades and cultivated interests in music, travel, and sailing, experiences that later informed many of the settings and themes in his fiction. Before becoming a full-time writer he held numerous occupations, including shipyard worker, merchant seaman, carpenter, and surveyor.
His earliest published story appeared in the mid 1940s in a science fiction magazine, marking the beginning of a long writing career. Throughout the following decades he produced stories across multiple genres, though he became best known for science fiction and fantasy cycles that combined imaginative settings with elaborate cultures and social systems. Among his most famous works are The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle, both of which received Hugo Awards. The Last Castle also earned the Nebula Award, confirming Vance's reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in speculative fiction. His fantasy trilogy Lyonesse later received the World Fantasy Award, while his memoir This Is Me, Jack Vance! earned another Hugo decades later.
In addition to speculative fiction, Vance wrote several mystery novels, some under pseudonyms including Ellery Queen. These works often blended crime elements with psychological or social themes and sometimes anticipated ideas that later appeared in his science fiction. His storytelling frequently emphasized cultural conflict, moral ambiguity, and intricate social customs rather than large-scale warfare, setting him apart from many contemporaries in the genre.
Vance maintained close friendships with other science fiction writers and participated in literary communities that shaped postwar American speculative fiction. He traveled widely with his family and spent extended periods abroad, experiences that influenced the exotic settings and cosmopolitan tone found in many of his books. Music also played a role in his life and writing, reflecting his long-standing enthusiasm for traditional jazz.
Despite gradually losing his eyesight later in life, Vance continued writing with the aid of specialized software and completed both fiction and autobiography in his later years. Over time his reputation grew steadily, and he received numerous honors, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and recognition as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Critics and fellow writers often praised his distinctive style, wit, and imagination, and his stories remain widely read within the science fiction and fantasy community.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 27, 2016
I really enjoyed reading this interesting and unpretentious autobiographical sketch by Jack Vance and highly recommend it to all Vance fans. Published in 2009 by Spatterlight Press, it is only 188 pages long and is not a full autobiography. But I found it engaging to read as it presented some of the highlights of Vance's very active and fascinating life.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
In the Preliminary Remarks Vance refers to this work as a “memoir” and also as an “autobiographical sketch.” He mentions that the work was initially recorded on tape (he was blind at the time) and that this memoir is “more of a landscape than a self-portrait-or at least a ramble across the landscape that has been my life.” He explains that he does not focus that much on his writings or the process of writing and that “writing is mastered by practice and patience.” He states that “many remarkable persons have wandered in and out of my life, and I have been fortunate enough to live through what is certainly an interesting and eventful epoch. I have attempted to detail these persons and events, while at the same time perhaps conveying something of my attitudes toward life.” He continues with humility, “The latter I have not done vehemently, nor even consciously; such is merely the inevitable by-product of telling one’s own story.”
In the beginning of the book Vance describes his early life. He was born in San Francisco in 1916 and lived there for his first five years, after which they moved to his grandfather’s ranch in a rural area about fifty miles inland from San Francisco. He was the middle of five children. Vance rarely saw his father but did not really miss him, his father being described by Vance as a “rather bluff, boisterous, self-righteous chap” and “a bit of a bully” who mostly lived apart from the family, first stationed in France with the Red Cross and later living in Mexico at a ranch. After many years of being apart, his parents divorced and his mother was reportedly swindled out of her house by his aunt and father and was left with no house or income. Vance’s mother sounds wonderful, however, and he had a great relationship with his maternal grandfather and had a fascinating uncle. Despite being rather poor and having a broken family, Vance describes his childhood as being a happy one.
Vance mentions some of the many books he read when young and discusses his early passion for music, especially jazz. This eventually led to his being a talented amateur musician who played the coronet and banjo-ukulele. Vance also worked at many unusual jobs during and the Depression, including working in a silver mine, serving as a bellhop while wearing a suit, surveying land in the Sierra Nevada foothills, cleaning steam coils at a catsup cannery, maintaining a doodlebug that scrapped mud out of a pond, operating a bulldozer, and working on drill rigs. In 1937 at the age of 21 he enrolled at the University of Berkeley as a physics major. He soon switched to English and then journalism and obtained a job working for the journalism department while trying his hand at writing science fiction. After a two years at the university Vance decided to go to work at a tungsten mine. Soon he applied for and was hired as an electrician for the Navy in Pearl Harbor. When they realized Vance was not very skilled as an electrician, they assigned him to do electroplating where he performed well. Next he was given the assignment of degaussing ships magnetic fields so they will not detonate mines. Vance worked in Pearl Harbor until he had saved enough money to return home and then quit and left for California where he arrived just a week or so prior to the Japanese bombing. Next he worked at Kaiser shipyard and then spent the duration of the war in the merchant marines as a seaman. Throughout the book Vance describes various unusual experiences, personal interests and fascinating characters.
Vance was also an avid world traveler, who travelled on a very limited budget but often stayed in exotic places for months at a time. In one early trip, for example, he and his wife Norma boarded a Liberty Ship which they took from Oakland to San Salvador, then through the Panama Canal, eventually going to Barcelona. After a stay there, they continued on to Casablanca, the Canary Islands, Timbuktu, Dakkar and Lisbon before returning home. Vance’s wife, Norma, accompanied him on these trips and often assisted him with his writings. After his son, John, was born the three of them, when they could afford it, went on lengthy trips to other countries, often staying in places for months at a time before returning to Oakland and their home in the hills which Jack built himself with assistance from family and friends.
Many lively travels, adventures and other events are described. Vance, for example, was friends with two famous, science fiction writers who lived in the area-Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert. The three of them built a houseboat together which they used to explore San Francisco Bay and connecting rivers. Boats were such a major part of Vance’s life that he devotes an entire chapter (XI) to them. In the last two chapters of the book Vance talks about writers he likes to read and describes some of his writings, his rules for writing fiction and which authors influenced him.
Vance’s passionate interests in sailing, jazz, travel, carpentry, ceramics, good food, family and friends are clearly evident throughout this work. Some readers might wish that there was more content about Vance's inner thoughts and feelings and more insights into his writings and the creative process, but Vance makes it clear that this is not his main focus, and the book exhibits a refreshing unpretentiousness and lack of self-pity, even during what were obviously difficult times for Vance and his family. He does make comments about his writings and the writing process throughout the book, but most of what he offers about his writings are in the five page Final Word that he had to be encouraged to add.
Vance does state in the beginning of the book that, "This autobiographical sketch is perhaps more of a landscape than a self-portrait." He informs the reader that "I recognize that my reputation, such as it is, derives from literary production; however, writing has not been the sole function of my life and I am bound to report that this book offers little on the subject in the way of shop-talk." If you approach this book with that in mind, you will likely enjoy reading it as much as I did. I've read it three times so far and plan to eventually read it again. My rating: 5.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
In the Preliminary Remarks Vance refers to this work as a “memoir” and also as an “autobiographical sketch.” He mentions that the work was initially recorded on tape (he was blind at the time) and that this memoir is “more of a landscape than a self-portrait-or at least a ramble across the landscape that has been my life.” He explains that he does not focus that much on his writings or the process of writing and that “writing is mastered by practice and patience.” He states that “many remarkable persons have wandered in and out of my life, and I have been fortunate enough to live through what is certainly an interesting and eventful epoch. I have attempted to detail these persons and events, while at the same time perhaps conveying something of my attitudes toward life.” He continues with humility, “The latter I have not done vehemently, nor even consciously; such is merely the inevitable by-product of telling one’s own story.”
In the beginning of the book Vance describes his early life. He was born in San Francisco in 1916 and lived there for his first five years, after which they moved to his grandfather’s ranch in a rural area about fifty miles inland from San Francisco. He was the middle of five children. Vance rarely saw his father but did not really miss him, his father being described by Vance as a “rather bluff, boisterous, self-righteous chap” and “a bit of a bully” who mostly lived apart from the family, first stationed in France with the Red Cross and later living in Mexico at a ranch. After many years of being apart, his parents divorced and his mother was reportedly swindled out of her house by his aunt and father and was left with no house or income. Vance’s mother sounds wonderful, however, and he had a great relationship with his maternal grandfather and had a fascinating uncle. Despite being rather poor and having a broken family, Vance describes his childhood as being a happy one.
Vance mentions some of the many books he read when young and discusses his early passion for music, especially jazz. This eventually led to his being a talented amateur musician who played the coronet and banjo-ukulele. Vance also worked at many unusual jobs during and the Depression, including working in a silver mine, serving as a bellhop while wearing a suit, surveying land in the Sierra Nevada foothills, cleaning steam coils at a catsup cannery, maintaining a doodlebug that scrapped mud out of a pond, operating a bulldozer, and working on drill rigs. In 1937 at the age of 21 he enrolled at the University of Berkeley as a physics major. He soon switched to English and then journalism and obtained a job working for the journalism department while trying his hand at writing science fiction. After a two years at the university Vance decided to go to work at a tungsten mine. Soon he applied for and was hired as an electrician for the Navy in Pearl Harbor. When they realized Vance was not very skilled as an electrician, they assigned him to do electroplating where he performed well. Next he was given the assignment of degaussing ships magnetic fields so they will not detonate mines. Vance worked in Pearl Harbor until he had saved enough money to return home and then quit and left for California where he arrived just a week or so prior to the Japanese bombing. Next he worked at Kaiser shipyard and then spent the duration of the war in the merchant marines as a seaman. Throughout the book Vance describes various unusual experiences, personal interests and fascinating characters.
Vance was also an avid world traveler, who travelled on a very limited budget but often stayed in exotic places for months at a time. In one early trip, for example, he and his wife Norma boarded a Liberty Ship which they took from Oakland to San Salvador, then through the Panama Canal, eventually going to Barcelona. After a stay there, they continued on to Casablanca, the Canary Islands, Timbuktu, Dakkar and Lisbon before returning home. Vance’s wife, Norma, accompanied him on these trips and often assisted him with his writings. After his son, John, was born the three of them, when they could afford it, went on lengthy trips to other countries, often staying in places for months at a time before returning to Oakland and their home in the hills which Jack built himself with assistance from family and friends.
Many lively travels, adventures and other events are described. Vance, for example, was friends with two famous, science fiction writers who lived in the area-Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert. The three of them built a houseboat together which they used to explore San Francisco Bay and connecting rivers. Boats were such a major part of Vance’s life that he devotes an entire chapter (XI) to them. In the last two chapters of the book Vance talks about writers he likes to read and describes some of his writings, his rules for writing fiction and which authors influenced him.
Vance’s passionate interests in sailing, jazz, travel, carpentry, ceramics, good food, family and friends are clearly evident throughout this work. Some readers might wish that there was more content about Vance's inner thoughts and feelings and more insights into his writings and the creative process, but Vance makes it clear that this is not his main focus, and the book exhibits a refreshing unpretentiousness and lack of self-pity, even during what were obviously difficult times for Vance and his family. He does make comments about his writings and the writing process throughout the book, but most of what he offers about his writings are in the five page Final Word that he had to be encouraged to add.
Vance does state in the beginning of the book that, "This autobiographical sketch is perhaps more of a landscape than a self-portrait." He informs the reader that "I recognize that my reputation, such as it is, derives from literary production; however, writing has not been the sole function of my life and I am bound to report that this book offers little on the subject in the way of shop-talk." If you approach this book with that in mind, you will likely enjoy reading it as much as I did. I've read it three times so far and plan to eventually read it again. My rating: 5.
March 15, 2012
I have already had to return this book to the library because I had it through inter-library loan, and late fees for inter-library loan are death. So I am a bit self-conscious about saying bad things about it, without being able to make specific references, But here goes.
I am currently reading the Dying Earth cycle by Vance out of a commitment to exploring Golden Age SF and a challenge issued by the website Worlds Without End to read a book by one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction each month for the year 2012. Such fantasy fiction is not to my taste, but I looked forward to Vance's memoirs to see where this stuff came from. Vance, however, states that he is not interested in writing a nuts and bolts book about SF writing. He wants to tell his personal story, and he is doing so via dictation. An operation for glaucoma almost blinded him in the 1980's. Since then he has worked with computers, early versions of voice recognition software, and for the memoirs diction. His wife dies during the dictation of the book, but at this writing he is still alive in his mid-nineties.
So it seems churlish to say the book is not very interesting. There are many biographical tidbits a reader might want to know more of, but perhaps it's the dictation method and a natural diffidence that keeps them from print. The memoirs turn into an overlong "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" report. There is little personal insight and essentially no relationship betweenf the life, which involved periodic adventurous world travel, and the fantastic fiction it produced. It is not surprising late in the book in what passes as some personal reflection to learn that Vance prefers cozy to hard-boiled crime fiction. It is not unlike the account he gives of his own life.
I am not, or at least not yet, a Vance fan. But they are legion. I wonder what they have made of this lukewarm memoir.
I am currently reading the Dying Earth cycle by Vance out of a commitment to exploring Golden Age SF and a challenge issued by the website Worlds Without End to read a book by one of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction each month for the year 2012. Such fantasy fiction is not to my taste, but I looked forward to Vance's memoirs to see where this stuff came from. Vance, however, states that he is not interested in writing a nuts and bolts book about SF writing. He wants to tell his personal story, and he is doing so via dictation. An operation for glaucoma almost blinded him in the 1980's. Since then he has worked with computers, early versions of voice recognition software, and for the memoirs diction. His wife dies during the dictation of the book, but at this writing he is still alive in his mid-nineties.
So it seems churlish to say the book is not very interesting. There are many biographical tidbits a reader might want to know more of, but perhaps it's the dictation method and a natural diffidence that keeps them from print. The memoirs turn into an overlong "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" report. There is little personal insight and essentially no relationship betweenf the life, which involved periodic adventurous world travel, and the fantastic fiction it produced. It is not surprising late in the book in what passes as some personal reflection to learn that Vance prefers cozy to hard-boiled crime fiction. It is not unlike the account he gives of his own life.
I am not, or at least not yet, a Vance fan. But they are legion. I wonder what they have made of this lukewarm memoir.
August 25, 2018
This was mostly a fairly dull read. I think I found it more interesting than the average reader because I am a big fan of Jack Vance and had read 17 of his books before reading this one. It struck me that he had a tendency to view his own life on the same terms as he viewed his literature; the same interest in swindlers, the erudite, the eccentric; the same sense of a leisurely life, peppered with small adventures and occasionally punctuated with dark horrors. It's a very interesting read for anyone who has read several of his books and has noticed the themes that seem to run through every work like a pulse. When viewed by the average reader, who is unfamiliar with Vance's work, it reads very much like a long digression by a nostalgic old man, without much to grab you.
We see a lot of the man as a man of the world. His interests, hobbies, the jobs he worked, the friends he made. I think we see much less of the internal world of this man. His feelings. He writes about thin, dark-haired, pixie-ish girls that he meets. They make a big impression on him. They are elegant, refined, aloof. They enchant him and then they disappear from his life. Such characters crop up a few times in this memoir and crop up repeatedly in his novels. His wife Norma on the other hand... He met her one day. Shortly afterwards he asked her to marry him. She was a fine assistant (Jack used to write in long hand and Norma would do the typing), a first-rate travelling companion and a mother to his son. She doesn't seem to have sparked his imagination in the same way these dreamy girls did. On the other hand, this memoir was published the year after Norma's death. It wouldn't surprise me if Vance didn't feel inclined to let his thoughts linger on her. The woman is a silhouette.
There was also very little about his writing and writing habits. We learn very little about the composition and the genesis of seminal works like The Dying Earth series, what he thought of the books, were some books harder to write than others, did he ever suffer from writers block etc. The book reads like the memoir of a wayfarer who happened to write literature for a hobby, not like the memoir of an actual writer. Writing seems incidental to Jack Vance. He would much rather tell you about specific 3-course meals that he ate 50 years ago, or about a specific jazz band that he saw one night in some obscure town. I can see how this would be frustrating for some of his fans but personally I always come to a biography wanting to know about the Man, not the Writer, wanting to know how the life influenced the work - so the book didn't disappoint me. I certainly feel like I learned a lot about Jack Vance: the Man, even if i have learned very little about Jack Vance: the Writer.
It feels a little unedited. Vance was blind by the time he wrote this memoir so he had to dictate it. It was the first time he ever dictated a work and you can tell. The writing has a rambling, baggy, unfocussed feel. It doesn't have the taut, nimble, artful style of his best work, although the same wry personality with his own innate eloquence is still in evidence.
I would only recommend it to big, big fans of Jack vance, and even then, such people might be disappointed. All the same I enjoyed it. I lose interest in books very easily these days but for whatever reason, this dull, rambling, uneven account of Vance's life held my interest throughout its brief span. If you love the man's work then I'm sure you will find this a pleasant read, if not much more.
We see a lot of the man as a man of the world. His interests, hobbies, the jobs he worked, the friends he made. I think we see much less of the internal world of this man. His feelings. He writes about thin, dark-haired, pixie-ish girls that he meets. They make a big impression on him. They are elegant, refined, aloof. They enchant him and then they disappear from his life. Such characters crop up a few times in this memoir and crop up repeatedly in his novels. His wife Norma on the other hand... He met her one day. Shortly afterwards he asked her to marry him. She was a fine assistant (Jack used to write in long hand and Norma would do the typing), a first-rate travelling companion and a mother to his son. She doesn't seem to have sparked his imagination in the same way these dreamy girls did. On the other hand, this memoir was published the year after Norma's death. It wouldn't surprise me if Vance didn't feel inclined to let his thoughts linger on her. The woman is a silhouette.
There was also very little about his writing and writing habits. We learn very little about the composition and the genesis of seminal works like The Dying Earth series, what he thought of the books, were some books harder to write than others, did he ever suffer from writers block etc. The book reads like the memoir of a wayfarer who happened to write literature for a hobby, not like the memoir of an actual writer. Writing seems incidental to Jack Vance. He would much rather tell you about specific 3-course meals that he ate 50 years ago, or about a specific jazz band that he saw one night in some obscure town. I can see how this would be frustrating for some of his fans but personally I always come to a biography wanting to know about the Man, not the Writer, wanting to know how the life influenced the work - so the book didn't disappoint me. I certainly feel like I learned a lot about Jack Vance: the Man, even if i have learned very little about Jack Vance: the Writer.
It feels a little unedited. Vance was blind by the time he wrote this memoir so he had to dictate it. It was the first time he ever dictated a work and you can tell. The writing has a rambling, baggy, unfocussed feel. It doesn't have the taut, nimble, artful style of his best work, although the same wry personality with his own innate eloquence is still in evidence.
I would only recommend it to big, big fans of Jack vance, and even then, such people might be disappointed. All the same I enjoyed it. I lose interest in books very easily these days but for whatever reason, this dull, rambling, uneven account of Vance's life held my interest throughout its brief span. If you love the man's work then I'm sure you will find this a pleasant read, if not much more.
June 14, 2013
I really wanted to like this book, if only because of the alternate title, but I was expecting a totally different book. In fairness he warns you at the beginning that this will be his memoirs and that he hates talking about writing, but for such a prolific and talented writer to say almost nothing about writing or his books or where he got his ideas is kind of disappointing. Instead we have an autobiography, and while he clearly had a very sharp memory for people and places, it could just as well be the autobiography of anyone who grew up in the 30s and 40s and had a bunch of jobs before becoming a full-time writer. There are very few details about his famous writer friends, very little about his own writing career, and so on.
Vance is certainly a good storyteller and I still found it interesting to read about his life. I'm sure his children and grandchildren will appreciate all the fairly intimate stuff about his family. His love of life and dry humor make the book very readable. Perhaps some day a critical biography, which also talks about his books, will be forthcoming, but until then I will just share a passage from his last book, Lurulu:
Maloof took up his tankard. “For want of a better toast, I salute the ten thousand generations of brewmasters who, through their unflagging genius, have in effect made this moment possible!”
“A noble toast,” cried Wingo. “Allow me to add an epilogue. At the last moments of the universe, with eternal darkness converging from all sides, surely someone will arise and cry out: ‘Hold back the end for a final moment, while I pay tribute to the gallant brewmasters who have provided us a pathway of golden glory down the fading corridors of time!’ And then, is it not possible that a bright gap will appear in the dark, through which the brewmasters are allowed to proceed, to build a finer universe?”
“It is as reasonable as any other conjecture,” said Schwatzendale. “But now.” The four saluted each other, tilted their tankards, and drank deep draughts.
Vance is certainly a good storyteller and I still found it interesting to read about his life. I'm sure his children and grandchildren will appreciate all the fairly intimate stuff about his family. His love of life and dry humor make the book very readable. Perhaps some day a critical biography, which also talks about his books, will be forthcoming, but until then I will just share a passage from his last book, Lurulu:
Maloof took up his tankard. “For want of a better toast, I salute the ten thousand generations of brewmasters who, through their unflagging genius, have in effect made this moment possible!”
“A noble toast,” cried Wingo. “Allow me to add an epilogue. At the last moments of the universe, with eternal darkness converging from all sides, surely someone will arise and cry out: ‘Hold back the end for a final moment, while I pay tribute to the gallant brewmasters who have provided us a pathway of golden glory down the fading corridors of time!’ And then, is it not possible that a bright gap will appear in the dark, through which the brewmasters are allowed to proceed, to build a finer universe?”
“It is as reasonable as any other conjecture,” said Schwatzendale. “But now.” The four saluted each other, tilted their tankards, and drank deep draughts.
June 8, 2010
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1449979.html
I haven't read a lot of Vance's work - just The Dying Earth and The Last Castle - but I've enjoyed what I've read, and considering the fascinating material that 90-year-old Frederik Pohl is putting on his blog these days, I was rather looking forward to reading this volume of reminiscences by Vance, who is a couple of years older.
Unfortunately it's just not a very interesting book. The best bit is the early material about growing up during the Depression (Vance was born in 1916), but apart from that it's a sequence of dinners, holidays, parties, jazz concerts, enumerated in detail without much reflection. To give one example, I have seen the story of the Jack Vance / Frank Herbert / Poul Anderson houseboat told in several other places, and told better. To give another, Vance has been blind for the last twenty years (including when writing all his later books starting with Lyonesse), and while I shall bear in mind his extensive listing of mystery genre wriiters whose whork he enjoys listening to on audio, it would have been interesting to read something more profound about the effect of the loss of one of the five senses on the writer. A line about the distinctive smell of Irish peat is used twice. We really don't learn much about Vance the man, and even less about Vance the writer; and those like me who really only know him through his writing won't feel any the wise after reading this.
I haven't read a lot of Vance's work - just The Dying Earth and The Last Castle - but I've enjoyed what I've read, and considering the fascinating material that 90-year-old Frederik Pohl is putting on his blog these days, I was rather looking forward to reading this volume of reminiscences by Vance, who is a couple of years older.
Unfortunately it's just not a very interesting book. The best bit is the early material about growing up during the Depression (Vance was born in 1916), but apart from that it's a sequence of dinners, holidays, parties, jazz concerts, enumerated in detail without much reflection. To give one example, I have seen the story of the Jack Vance / Frank Herbert / Poul Anderson houseboat told in several other places, and told better. To give another, Vance has been blind for the last twenty years (including when writing all his later books starting with Lyonesse), and while I shall bear in mind his extensive listing of mystery genre wriiters whose whork he enjoys listening to on audio, it would have been interesting to read something more profound about the effect of the loss of one of the five senses on the writer. A line about the distinctive smell of Irish peat is used twice. We really don't learn much about Vance the man, and even less about Vance the writer; and those like me who really only know him through his writing won't feel any the wise after reading this.
May 10, 2019
This was a real disappointment. As a fan of the Dying Earth books, I was hoping to get a glimpse at the inner world and influences of the author. To be fair, he does state from the beginning that he doesn't plan on talking about the craft of writing. Nevertheless, I expected him to a least reveal something of his inner world. Instead, it's just one travel story after another along with endless descriptions of parties and restaurants. It was orally dictated since it was written after he had gone blind, so it's missing the great prose style of his fiction. Only the last short chapter describes his influences, but does so extremely briefly and reluctantly. He mentions at the start of this chapter that he was basically forced to write it by his advisors who stated it inappropriate for him to leave it out. It's obvious that he wanted to. It's also kind of strange and disappointing that the only writers he enjoys reading are mystery novels.
December 25, 2009
"I have not been reading much over the last five months but this is a really charming memoir from one of my favourite authors." was what I wrote on 25 December 2009.
Having recently re-read my collection of his fiction it seemed a good idea to re-read his autobiography. It still is a really charming memoir!
Having recently re-read my collection of his fiction it seemed a good idea to re-read his autobiography. It still is a really charming memoir!
June 2, 2013
Somewhat entertaining but superficial memoir from author Jack Vance. He tells us what he did, where he went, and who he met, but doesn't reveal much about himself. He also pretty much ignores his writing career, and has little to say about the craft itself. At least it's brief!
August 12, 2020
I am a huge Jack Vance fan. His imagination and floral prose have carried him through the decades and established him as a master of fantasy. But by the end of the first page of the memoir I knew I was going to be disappointed. He says clearly in the introduction that the book will barely touch on his writing, the only reason we know him. Subsequent chapters deliver as expected. I only made it a few chapters in before I started scanning ahead. The rest is just factual, superficial anecdotes of the people he's met, the places he's been, a little on his family. They are the recollections of a man 90-plus years old trying to share what is important to him with his fans. Nothing on his inspirations, nothing on his challenges as a writer, nothing on his feelings on being a rising star in a fledgling genre. In the end, I was left a bit sad. He was trying to share the parts of his life that had followed him for a long and prosperous life. And, I didn't finish the book. All he had to do was have one or two pages on the things that made me love him and I probably would have gone along for the ride. But the sad truth is, it wasn't important to him. There is value here. Apparently he did have some interesting things happen and he did meet interesting people. If you are a fan of autobiography or one of those people that can finish a book "no matter what" you'll be fine. If you want to know where Vance got his ideas, what inspired him, what challenges he had with agents and editors, what it felt like as he became a successful writer, there's a few pages at the end. I'm going to revisit this book and if I change my mind, I'll change my review, but for now I'm sticking with two stars.
It reminds me of those movie stars who decide they want to become rock stars and won't talk about their acting when been interviewed about their garage band.
A little clueless on why we care.
It reminds me of those movie stars who decide they want to become rock stars and won't talk about their acting when been interviewed about their garage band.
A little clueless on why we care.
January 11, 2026
3.5/5⭐️
«Le plus grand compliment qu’un écrivain puisse recevoir est que le lecteur n’ait pas conscience de sa présence.»
Une autobiographie assez touchante et intime, qui est un excellent témoignage de la vie d'un homme américain de la classe moyenne/haute au XXème siècle.
On sent que les voyages ont été une partie très importante de la vie de Jack Vance, et j'ai beaucoup apprécié tous les passages où il raconte ses différents voyages et les choses qu'il a pu voir, c'était très ancré dans une époque particulière.
L'humour de Jack Vance est également très efficace, il dit a plusieurs reprises qu'il aime énormément P.G. Wodehouse et en effet c'est quelque chose que je peux ressentir dans son humour.
Il parle relativement peu de ses œuvres dans cette autobiographie, donc si vous souhaitez en savoir davantage sur son processus créatif, ses inspirations pour telle ou telle œuvre, vous n'en saurez guère plus en lisant ce livre. Il dit même vers la fin du livre que "Ce type qui a écrit tous ces machins pendant tant d'années... J'ai l'impression que c'est une autre personne !". Il consacre cependant quelques phrases à lister ses œuvres préférées dans sa propre production.
C'est globalement un livre sur sa vie de famille, son enfance, ses premiers petits boulots, son passage dans l'armée (l'anecdote sur Pearl Harbor est folle), ses amis, énormément. Et également ses premières opportunités dans le milieu du scénarisme pour la télé. Puis ses nombreux voyages. Vraiment si je visite un dixième des pays qu'il a visité je serai contente !
En bref j'ai été assez émue de lire cette fenêtre sur la vie de cet écrivain dont j'ai déjà lu un certain nombre d'œuvres, et je suis contente de pouvoir le connaître un peu mieux.
«Le plus grand compliment qu’un écrivain puisse recevoir est que le lecteur n’ait pas conscience de sa présence.»
Une autobiographie assez touchante et intime, qui est un excellent témoignage de la vie d'un homme américain de la classe moyenne/haute au XXème siècle.
On sent que les voyages ont été une partie très importante de la vie de Jack Vance, et j'ai beaucoup apprécié tous les passages où il raconte ses différents voyages et les choses qu'il a pu voir, c'était très ancré dans une époque particulière.
L'humour de Jack Vance est également très efficace, il dit a plusieurs reprises qu'il aime énormément P.G. Wodehouse et en effet c'est quelque chose que je peux ressentir dans son humour.
Il parle relativement peu de ses œuvres dans cette autobiographie, donc si vous souhaitez en savoir davantage sur son processus créatif, ses inspirations pour telle ou telle œuvre, vous n'en saurez guère plus en lisant ce livre. Il dit même vers la fin du livre que "Ce type qui a écrit tous ces machins pendant tant d'années... J'ai l'impression que c'est une autre personne !". Il consacre cependant quelques phrases à lister ses œuvres préférées dans sa propre production.
C'est globalement un livre sur sa vie de famille, son enfance, ses premiers petits boulots, son passage dans l'armée (l'anecdote sur Pearl Harbor est folle), ses amis, énormément. Et également ses premières opportunités dans le milieu du scénarisme pour la télé. Puis ses nombreux voyages. Vraiment si je visite un dixième des pays qu'il a visité je serai contente !
En bref j'ai été assez émue de lire cette fenêtre sur la vie de cet écrivain dont j'ai déjà lu un certain nombre d'œuvres, et je suis contente de pouvoir le connaître un peu mieux.
December 14, 2024
For memoirists and autobiographers, timing matters. Write your life story too soon, and you might miss that late Nobel. Jack Vance made the other mistake. He waited to write a memoir until he was 92, blind, and no longer much interested in writing. It won a Hugo in 2010, more, I imagine, as a lifetime achievement award than a tribute to the book itself. It reads more like notes from a diary than a connected narrative. His prose in the memoir is transparent and acerbic, sounding nothing at all like his fictional voice, where we can see the influence of some of his early favorites, like P. G. Wodehouse and Lord Dunsany.
His travel writing and the story of his early life in the Depression are worth reading, but I would like to know more about his intellectual and emotional life. He was close friends with Frank Herbert and Poul Anderson, but we learn little about what they thought of each other and their work.
He does not discuss his own work or that of his contemporaries. He does mention his early inspirations--P. G. Wodehouse, L. Frank Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Lord Dunsany—but he does not say much about what he took from them.
He tells us: “Talking shop has never much appealed to me, and I have spent most of my career trying to avoid it.” In the last chapter, though, we do learn that he usually wrote handwritten drafts using fountain pens with different color inks. His wife, Norma, was his typist. When his vision failed, he moved to a computer with a text-to-speech synthesizer. For accounts of the science fiction community of the period, memoirs by Fred Pohl, Poul Anderson, and Isaac Asimov are much more helpful.
His travel writing and the story of his early life in the Depression are worth reading, but I would like to know more about his intellectual and emotional life. He was close friends with Frank Herbert and Poul Anderson, but we learn little about what they thought of each other and their work.
He does not discuss his own work or that of his contemporaries. He does mention his early inspirations--P. G. Wodehouse, L. Frank Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Lord Dunsany—but he does not say much about what he took from them.
He tells us: “Talking shop has never much appealed to me, and I have spent most of my career trying to avoid it.” In the last chapter, though, we do learn that he usually wrote handwritten drafts using fountain pens with different color inks. His wife, Norma, was his typist. When his vision failed, he moved to a computer with a text-to-speech synthesizer. For accounts of the science fiction community of the period, memoirs by Fred Pohl, Poul Anderson, and Isaac Asimov are much more helpful.
May 19, 2021
Vance is an easy writer to read. This biography largely consists of stories from Vance's lifetime of world travel -- his practice was to make a roundabout trip to an eventual temporary writing location. His wife is always present, and she is well-thanked for her companionship and essential role in his life as a writer, although one doesn't really get any sense of who she was as a person. What did she say, think, do (other than type his manuscripts)? This is not a deeply psychological portrait of a writer. Vance doesn't mystify his work, and I appreciate that.
February 29, 2020
This is Jack's last story - the story of his life, revealing his character through the events he experienced. It was a life well-lived. It is churlish to say his story is not good enough; in fact we are privileged to have been given it.
If you want to know about his writing you need to go elsewhere - this is about his life, not his works.
If you want to know about his writing you need to go elsewhere - this is about his life, not his works.
April 26, 2025
A charming if unfocused account. The fact that Vance spends most of the book avoiding talking about his career as a writer is telling in itself – suggesting that there is not that much to say. He was an excellent craftsman but the pleasures of his works rest mostly on their surface. A must read for Vance addicts.
June 28, 2023
A glimpse into the life of Jack Vance. Reading it, it's not hard to draw parallels between his life and his stories; his time as a merchant seaman to Cugel's journeys on worm-propelled ship. And to be envious of the amount of travel Jack Vance got to do over his years.
July 9, 2023
Who knew Vance wrote many of the episodes of one of my favorite childhood tv shows, "Captain Video & His Video Rangers"? This memoir of a painstaking sf/fantasy stylist won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book (2010).
September 9, 2024
Like other reviewers here I was initially a little disappointed by some of the author's rather humdrum exploits, even though I usually enjoy working-life narratives and appreciate oral history as a backdoor view onto History Writ Large, but there was little of that perspective here.
I was disappointed because Vance's fantasy writing often has this polished urbanity thinly masking an exotically decadent backdrop, so I was hoping to glimpse some of the thinking behind this doomladen grotesquerie, but call it the final irony - Vance mostly portrays himself as a rather wholesome all-American boy who enjoys the occasional good-natured prank or indiscretion -- though even here he often has an eye for the fresh turn of phrase, the memorable anecdote, the twists and turns and the wry dénouement.
Interesting to read about the 1950s and 1960s predigital globetrotting lifestyle of the sci-fi writers' fraternity, prefiguring today's nomad lifestyle, with visits to Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, John Campbell and others e.g. at sci-fi conventions all over the world, all while maintaining an output of several thousand words a day. And yet he says that talking shop has never appealed much to him "and I have spent most of my career trying to avoid it". Vance's modesty can be revealing: "That guy who wrote all that junk for so many years - he seems like another person!" All this will perhaps come as a disappointment to those who hailed him as the master stylist among sci-fi writers - rather as if in an embarrassingly candid moment Dickens admitted he could be a bit of a hack sometimes. But then fortunately for discerning readers Vance also highlights his major achievements: "I am especially fond of my Cadwal sequence and the latter two books of the Durdane set, the Demon Princes and of course the Cugel stories, Rhialto the Marvellous and the Lyonesse cycle."
Vance also refers to his miscellaneous influences from the swashbuckling Jeffery Farnol to P. G. Wodehouse, the dark Clark Ashton Smith and such Weird Tales writers as C. L. Moore. So his feet of clay leave some intriguing trails elsewhere...
I was disappointed because Vance's fantasy writing often has this polished urbanity thinly masking an exotically decadent backdrop, so I was hoping to glimpse some of the thinking behind this doomladen grotesquerie, but call it the final irony - Vance mostly portrays himself as a rather wholesome all-American boy who enjoys the occasional good-natured prank or indiscretion -- though even here he often has an eye for the fresh turn of phrase, the memorable anecdote, the twists and turns and the wry dénouement.
Interesting to read about the 1950s and 1960s predigital globetrotting lifestyle of the sci-fi writers' fraternity, prefiguring today's nomad lifestyle, with visits to Arthur C. Clarke, Poul Anderson, John Campbell and others e.g. at sci-fi conventions all over the world, all while maintaining an output of several thousand words a day. And yet he says that talking shop has never appealed much to him "and I have spent most of my career trying to avoid it". Vance's modesty can be revealing: "That guy who wrote all that junk for so many years - he seems like another person!" All this will perhaps come as a disappointment to those who hailed him as the master stylist among sci-fi writers - rather as if in an embarrassingly candid moment Dickens admitted he could be a bit of a hack sometimes. But then fortunately for discerning readers Vance also highlights his major achievements: "I am especially fond of my Cadwal sequence and the latter two books of the Durdane set, the Demon Princes and of course the Cugel stories, Rhialto the Marvellous and the Lyonesse cycle."
Vance also refers to his miscellaneous influences from the swashbuckling Jeffery Farnol to P. G. Wodehouse, the dark Clark Ashton Smith and such Weird Tales writers as C. L. Moore. So his feet of clay leave some intriguing trails elsewhere...
July 31, 2010
The better name for this book would be: The list places I have visited, some people I have met, and not much else. Certainly Jack Vance tells very little of himself, and practically nothing of his writing. The book consists mainly about simple and short anecdotes about people no one has ever heard of in style of: “the hotel owner such-and-such was pretty friendly in some-or-other place. We used our car to take her to town, as she had no car of her own, and we got to be very friendly with her. We never heard anything about her later”. Doh. We also learn that he got stuck be a bee in some meadow, or him saw once a nice looking girl in some bar, with whom he fell in love instantly. The girl or the “love” are never mentioned again. The book feels like a stream of consciousness reminiscences. If you want learn something about his writing, how he got his ideas, how he got published, what he was thinking when he was writing, or anything you usually are excepting when you are reading an author biography, you will be deeply disappointed. I thought that the first part of the book was boring. (There he mainly tells of several different jobs he worked on), and I was excepting to get to the interesting parts later when he started his career as author. However, the last part of the book was even worse. Who is interest about the list of places he has visited? The book doesn’t even work as a travelogue as he tells practically nothing about the places he mentions. This most likely going to on the last place on mine list of “related works” category - it is hard to imagine that any of other nominees could be worse. And certainly “no award” will be in the higher position. By far one of the worst things I have read this year.
February 15, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography. I found JV had visited many places that I have been to including Pearl Harbor, AL the Wop's, Nepenthe, Volcano, Copperopolis, Tahiti.
August 17, 2023
This book was a joy to read. No, it's not a "polished" memoir, but that's the strength of it. Reading the book felt like spending an evening with Jack Vance and having him tell stories from his varied and extremely interesting life. Sadly, Mr. Vance died in 2013 and such an imagined evening is now impossible in this timeline. Enter: "This is Me, Jack Vance!"
Vance was one of the core writers of the Sci-Fi Golden Age. His colleagues and sphere of personal friends included other sci-fi legends such as Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert. These writers seem to have a lived a modestly bohemian West-coast lifestyle, frequently jamming, dining, sailing and traveling together. Vance describes growing up in California, his life as a merchant mariner, and his fabulous travels around the world, financed by his excellent stories which were in turn influenced by his experiences.
The world has changed and some of the things that Vance accomplished in he 1950's seem sadly out of reach in 2023. Nonetheless, I found myself thinking frequently as I read the book, how can I live a more "Vanceian" life? After you've read this you'll know what I mean.
Vance was one of the core writers of the Sci-Fi Golden Age. His colleagues and sphere of personal friends included other sci-fi legends such as Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert. These writers seem to have a lived a modestly bohemian West-coast lifestyle, frequently jamming, dining, sailing and traveling together. Vance describes growing up in California, his life as a merchant mariner, and his fabulous travels around the world, financed by his excellent stories which were in turn influenced by his experiences.
The world has changed and some of the things that Vance accomplished in he 1950's seem sadly out of reach in 2023. Nonetheless, I found myself thinking frequently as I read the book, how can I live a more "Vanceian" life? After you've read this you'll know what I mean.
November 11, 2015
My favourite writer mentions at the end of his autobiography that he actually was blind when he wrote some if his best books (Lyonesse triology, Night lamp, ports of call and Lurulu) in his last years as writer. He dictated them to his wife, but she died in her eighties. This autobiography he wrote by dictating it all in an old fashioned tape recorder and send it to his agent. Pretty awesome.
Unfortunately Jack Vance does not mention a lot about the amazing stories he wrote and characters he created, but still I liked to read about his travels around the world. It is clear where he took his inspiration from. He always avoided publicity and audiences, so happy to know he lived a wonderful life. Vance, 1916 - 2013, wrote dozens of novels so I still can enjoy about 20 of then. Thanks Jack!
Unfortunately Jack Vance does not mention a lot about the amazing stories he wrote and characters he created, but still I liked to read about his travels around the world. It is clear where he took his inspiration from. He always avoided publicity and audiences, so happy to know he lived a wonderful life. Vance, 1916 - 2013, wrote dozens of novels so I still can enjoy about 20 of then. Thanks Jack!
June 16, 2013
The 3 stars mostly is because I've always been curious about the live of Jack Vance as he is one of my favorite authors.
A complaint more often raised in the reviews of this book: how can someone who writes such interesting books, and had such an interesting live, write an autobiography that's so bland.
I've read more interesting field trip reports. I would have loved to have a deeper insight in Jack Vance and the places and people in his live, but the most I know now is that he went to places, and met a lot of people.
A complaint more often raised in the reviews of this book: how can someone who writes such interesting books, and had such an interesting live, write an autobiography that's so bland.
I've read more interesting field trip reports. I would have loved to have a deeper insight in Jack Vance and the places and people in his live, but the most I know now is that he went to places, and met a lot of people.
August 15, 2014
If you are a hardcore Vancian like I am, you will love this book, his autobiography. He begins his story as a young boy and recounts his life chapter by chapter. Vance's life would be interesting to read about no matter who wrote about it, but Vance's voice and style elevate this to something else. The only disappointment I have with the book is the dearth of information about Vance's writing life. Otherwise this is a solid and very interesting book.
July 29, 2010
A memoir from one of the giants of the SF field. It’s a pleasant walk through Vance’s life, filled with a lot of short anecdotes from his youth, numerous odd jobs, and extensive travels, but very little about his fiction. There’s almost no introspection, even on misfortunes such as his blindness, which he tosses out almost as an aside.
August 31, 2010
I was pretty disappointed in this book. It started stong, with some interesting stories about Vance's youth, but turned into a rather dull litany of places Vance lived and people he met. There are some fun diversions in here, but the whole thing felt like it needed expansion and more detail to be meaningful to anyone but the Vance family.
January 27, 2013
To be honest, I have always liked Jack Vance's books and stories, but this account of his life was just boring. It has mainly been a long list of names and places, rather than actions ... and unfortunately it didn't make any connection to his books and writings until the last few pages. I did expect a lot mor from this grand master ... but this time he did not deliver.
June 4, 2014
This book is a straightforward review of an active and adventurous life, as told by the man that lived it. And while it is inevitably disappointing that Vance barely discusses his body of work, what we are left with is an interesting diary-cum-travelogue about a family that, because the head of household was a successful writer, traveled the world and met many interesting people along the way.
December 24, 2016
This was really enjoyable. It felt like sitting down with Mr. Vance and having him tell you stories about his life. If you're looking for insight into his writing inspiration or how to connect his lifestyle to the amazing science fiction stories he told, then this is not the book to do that.
March 29, 2022
Very engaging memoir of a fascinating life but the author is reluctant to dwell much on his books and stories. I would have liked to have learned more of the genesis of things like The Dying Earth and the Lyonesse trilogy.
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