Alfred Bester

Modern Masters of Science Fiction

by Jad Smith

Alfred Bester's classic short stories and the canonical novel The Stars My Destination made him a science fiction legend. Fans and scholars praise him as a genre-bending pioneer and cyberpunk forefather. Writers like Neil Gaiman and William Gibson celebrate his prophetic vision and stylistic innovations. Jad Smith traces the career of the unlikeliest of SF icons. Winner of the first Hugo Award for The Demolished Man , Bester also worked in comics, radio, and TV, and his intermittent SF writing led some critics to brand him a dabbler. In the 1960s, however, New Wave writers championed his work, and his reputation grew. Smith follows Bester's journey from consummate outsider to an artist venerated for foundational works that influenced the New Wave and cyberpunk revolutions. He also explores the little-known roots of a wayward journey fueled by curiosity, disappointment with the SF mainstream, and an artist's determination to go his own way.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2016

Reviews

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first foray into the Modern Masters of Science Fiction and if this is a representative sample it most certainly won't be my last.
I have enjoyed Bester's work and this monograph has filled in a lot of gaps in my understanding of him as a writer.
I highly recommend this book if you want to more fully understand Alfred Bester's motivations in writing and some of the reasons he stepped away from the genre for a time.