The Wooden Star

by William Tenn

1st edition 1st printing paperback, vg+ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1968

About the author

William 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...

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Philip Klass, a.k.a. William Tenn, died on the 10th of February at the age of 89, though for some reason The Guardian waited until today to publish his obituary. He was one of the most accomplished Golden Age SF satirists; if you haven't come across him, this collection is a good place to start.

I think my favourite is "Null-P". The story is set in a post-apocalyptic US: most of the country is still radioactive, and half the children being born have an extra head or some other interestingly non-standard feature. Society is coming apart, when a statistician at the Census Department makes a remarkable discovery. One of the people in his databank, a Mr. George Abnego, is absolutely normal! His height, weight, IQ, eyesight and hearing scores are precisely the national average, to several decimal places. The statistician is so struck by his discovery that he goes and runs further tests on Abnego. It's astonishing. No matter what they measure, he always comes out plumb in the middle of the bell curve.

Abnego becomes a national celebrity, and is soon running for President under the slogan "A Normal Man for a Normal World". He never says anything in his speeches but anodyne inanities, and is elected by a landslide. He goes on to serve another five terms, and the country rapidly follows his example. No more of this pursuit of excellence: we see what that led to. Instead, in every walk of life - job applications, academic preferment, beauty contests - the rules are changed so that the winner is the most average candidate. The story gives several anecdotes about the colourless Abnego. The one I liked best is when he goes to see a production of Romeo and Juliet. After the play's tragic end, he's heard to murmur to an aide: "Ah, better not to have loved at all than to have loved and lost!"

Abnego is succeeded by other completely average leaders, and the human race enters an era of moderate peace and comparative plenty which lasts a quarter of a million years, until it's displaced by a breed of intelligent dogs. The dogs keep the humans around for a while as pets because they're good at throwing sticks, but in the end some bright dog invents an automatic stick-throwing machine, and, except in the most rural backwaters, we finally disappear.

Obviously, this little fable is now completely past its sell-by, and has no possible relevance to the US of today.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Masculinist Revolt is the nice satire. I used to think Tenn was a genius but unfortunately not anymore.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that I prefer Tenn in short form. Sharp points vs. extended explorations. As the blurb says, the stories are sometimes bitter, also dark, also a bit experimental... but as they're short, one doesn't have to spend too much time in any one. Older fans of older social-satire SF will likely enjoy this, but I think some of the perspectives will seem too alien for ppl born after, say, 1975 or so.

Btw, one published in 1958 is called 'Lisbon Cubed.'

According to a quick Google search, I'm guessing that is a reference to the Queen's visit to Portugal and/or "When Eileen Parker sued for divorce from Prince Philip’s best friend and equerry Michael Parker, a royal scandal erupted. And Queen Elizabeth, according to frenzied news reports, was none too pleased." (Vanity Fair)

(If someone wants to do a more thorough search, please have at it and let me know.)

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Either this collection of short stories hasn't aged well or I haven't. With the exception of "The Masculinist Revolt," which was first published in 1965, these are 1950's stories. They were probably considered edgy then, and the problem for me isn't dated science. For his time, Tenn was fairly rigorous in that regard. Too often his stories are heavy on satire but light on characterization and plot. I didn't notice this flaw in another of his collections, "Of All Possible Worlds," and quite liked it. This one has some good ideas, and when Tenn focuses on telling a STORY, I was engaged, but too often the execution didn't work for me. I'd give this two and a half stars.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this collection of William Tenn's stories shortly after it came out in 1968. I was in high school at the time. Fifty years later, I vividly remember seven out of the eleven stories in this collection. It was great to get hold of this again.

Some of the stories have not aged well, but most of them take me back to my youth, when Science Fiction opened up worlds of limitless possibility.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of humorous and satirical science fiction stories about time travel, aliens and extra terrestrial espionage.

[Tilly ~ was successfully manipulated by a wizard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Link to Bluesky commentary on Null-P

https://bsky.app/profile/tillywizard....

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Codpieces and cigars anyone? "The Masculinist Revolt," demonstrates how any subject matter can succeed in the right hands. Is it marketing or masculinity? "Behind every successful woman is an equally unsuccessful man." Tell your favorite MGTOW it's mandatory reading--emphasis on the man.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy Satire then you will like Tenn, acid sharp and still potent today William Tenn's witt shines bright through his SF setting.

[Alien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories.
Partly ironic/satirical. Quite good ideas, although they are not really coherent. All in all quite good