Charles Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained

by Damon Knight

Charles Fort devoted his life to attacking one of the modern world's most sacred traditional science, with all its authority and all its presuppositions...This book is the first full-scale biography of Charles Fort, a lively, sympathetic, and thought-provoking portrait of a strange and brilliant man. ~ from the book's inner jacket blurb

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic.
Knight's first professional sale was a cartoon drawing to a science-fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941. He is best known as the author of "To Serve Man", which was adapted for The Twilight Zone. He was a recipient of the Hugo Award, founder of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), cofounder of the National Fantasy Fan Federation, cofounder of the Milford Writer's Workshop, and cofounder of the Clarion Writers Workshop. Knight lived in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife Kate Wilhelm.

Reviews

[Darmok · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a biography. Much of it is Knight’s own self-serious Fortean speculations, but with none of the wit and frenzy that make Fort himself readable. Unlike in his intimate and expository Futurians memoirs, here Knight is relentlessly uncritical. What a boring read.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as kid, in fourth grade I think - it was strange book for a kid to read but it was fascinating and an early realization that people like Fort could even exist in the world. Fascinating. Time for a re-read.