The Futurians

by Damon Knight

Book is in Very Good + condition. Boards have a tiny bit of shelf wear. Fore edges have a small amount of wear. Interior is clean and legible. Not remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Very Good + condition. Tiny bit of shelf wear/rub. Tiniest bit of wear along the edges. Not price clipped. Dust Jacket is covered by Mylar wrapper. Thanks and Enjoy. All-ways well boxed, All-ways fast service. Thanks.

Genres: Science Fiction

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

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

[Alvaro Zinos-Amaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a sense, this book should probably be rated two different ways: for the general reader, I'd give it one or two stars, because it'll be largely incomprehensible to the general reader why he/she should care about this misfit band of gawky, hormonal, precocious pulp fans (the abstract knowledge that they will one day become well-known science fiction writers and editors being insufficient to sustain interest through the minutiae of their lives); for the student of the history of science fiction, who wants to delve deeply into the 30s and 40s and this early fannish congregation of bright minds, I think the book deserves four stars and is an indispensable reference (hence my rating).

I've read scholarly, academic books that deal with this period, but no treatment so far that was as personal, and a first-hand (mostly) account [besides Asimov's]. At times Knight can be infuriatingly opinionated and gossipy, and one almost longs for a little of that aforementioned detachment, but this is more than compensated for by the obvious affection he has for his subject and for doing it justice (interviewing, at the time of the book's composition, the surviving Futurians to get their opinions and perspectives on as many incidents and anecdotes of yore as possible).

Knight's details bring the whole scene vividly to life. No small feat, he successfully recreates a long-lost time and the people, many forgotten today, who proved instrumental in fashioning the genre we call science fiction. I was surprised, above all, by how Bohemian the early days of the Futurians were, and by how fractious and prone to splintering the group was from the very beginning. And yet many of the relationships stood the test of time. The more things change...

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book for science fiction fans and those interested in the history of both fandom and the field. I'm not sure anyone else would get much from it, but I was fascinated and enjoyed it very much. The Futurians were a club of science fiction fans and writers founded in the 1930s that included some of the best known early figures of the field, including Asimov, Pohl, Kornbluth, and Knight himself among many others. Knight details the many affairs, marriages, divorces, feuds, triumphs, and failures, both in life and in a literary context, among members of the group in this book. It's like watching The Crown, except the characters are poor sci-fi nerds during WWII. I also thought it was interesting to contrast Knight's version of events with the way that Asimov, Moskowitz, Pohl, and others have recorded the history. For them, fandom really was a way of life.

[Dennis Sisterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a short collective biography of an intense, dysfunctional clique of friends from late 1930s New York, a few of who became science fiction legends while most of the others went on to troubled, obscure lives. As one who belonged to a similarly close fan group in the late 80s, one of whom has also become a successful writer, it was interesting to see the parallels both in the personality types and the culture, and also to note that even legendary writers spend most of their days as struggling freelancers. However it's hard to shake off the sense that this book is far more interesting to the author and his own circle than to most readers. Even fans of golden age sci fi will recognise only four or five of the dozen or so names that make up the collective, and are likely to spend much of the book wondering why they're reading a rather downbeat biography of people they've never heard of. Also the cast are frequently changing jobs, homes, cliques and partners so that each time one appears it's hard to recall all those details, and harder to care when you can't keep track of everyone. Against that, like all good biographies it's an interesting window into the times and the origins of the science fiction genre in America, and Knight's concluding thoughts about what made all these people tick are deeply insightful.

[Williwaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's funny as hell to read about the old-guard of sf greats during their salad days.

P.S. Don't pick this up unless you are a total old-time science fiction geek. It's like reading old diaries: you can't sustain an interest unless you really know the authors well and have some curiosity about their lives. And even then, you might not be able to sustain it.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1938 a small group of New York City science fiction fans formed a loose club, The Futurian Society. An amazing number of them went onto have very successful careers as science fiction authors. Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Cyril Kornbluth, James Blish, Damon Knight and Judith Merrill were all accomplished and well known in the field. Donald Wolheim was a prominent science fiction editor and publisher.

This is a history/memoir/oral history of the group by a member of the group. It is more gossip than literary history. Almost all of them were nerds, misfits or some combination. Knight gives us the tales of affairs, marriages gone bad, wives leaving one to marry another, mental illness and alcohol abuse. (It was too early for much drug abuse.)

Knight says very little about the books and stories they wrote. He give one sentence summaries but there is no real discussion of the cross-ferritization of ideas and concepts that were part of the scene.

They were almost all poor all the time. There were allot of cheap meals, cheap booze and bad debt. Knight describes a series of apartments that became crash pads for the group. The apartments had knick-names like, "The Tower" or "Fort Wit".

Several of them had flirtations with the Communist Party. They seemed too have learn the habit of bitter schisms over inconsequential slights. The egos, insecurities and paranoia in the group made every disagreement in a tiny civil war.

It is interesting that Asimov, who was the most productive and prolific of any of them, seems to have the least to do with the social scene.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life and Times of Fanboys & Fangirls

The story of this group, the Futurians, amusing, sad, appalling, funny as hell. Players in this tale, were a lot of things, either you love 'em, or hate 'em, but sometimes sympathize with them. Other times, one shakes his head at such stupidity. This chronicle is an interesting take on early fandom where few of them managed to survive. And others? Not so much. You want a sketch on early fandom, here's one of them.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be confusing at times. The author is familiar with the people he wrote about and it affected the writing of this book. The book was written in 1977 and a part of the problem that I had when reading the book is that I am not familiar with most of the people he was writing about. It appears that they were more widely known at the time.

[Polwanderer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure what I’ve just read but it’s not a history of early science fiction. Reads like a pastiche of James P Blaylock characters in a 1940s setting. Badly written with paragraphs jumping around between people’s names, incidents and dates.

No idea what their role was in early SF. Just seemed to spend time bickering with each other.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating subject but I found the writing wasn't particularly compelling.

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review coming, really important history of the science fiction genre.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second reading of this book. While I enjoyed it again, it was not as good as I remember it.

[Henry Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at early fandom and the lives of those who created it.

[Paul F · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Golden Era science fiction fans. It is not for the casual reader, unless you want read about some weird and less than desirable people.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mainly just a catalogue of a whole buncha dorks (although Knight's droll, understated style did at least manage to keep things on as even a keel as was possible, considering). And all of those feuds and crap came off a lot more embarrassing than they were anything else.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A participant's view of a group of early Sf writers who started out as a fan organization and grew into somewhat dysfunctional adults whose co-ed membership seemed to constantly marrying, divorcing, and switching partners a number of times....

Rereading after having read Pohl's own book on the Futurians as a counterpoint - slightly disjointed and told in a zigzag manner where a totally chronological presentation would have been less muddled.

[John Adkins]

Damon Knight's The Futurians

This is the fascinating story of the Futurians by a participant. Knight interviews his old friends and weaves his own memories with theirs into a mostly coherent whole. The only caveat, and one that does not impact the readers enjoyment, is that at times it can be hard to keep track of who Knight is quoting at any given time.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I nice time trip through a seminal time in the field of science fiction by a major participant. Only quibble is that it is easy to lose track of who is telling which story in a book that is really a collection of recollections and tales of now long distant times. Still, for those interested in the first full flowering of science fiction as a literary movement of its own, it is a must read.

[Tony Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Possibly one of the most dispiriting, depressing books I've ever come across. Suffused with Knight's brand of 1950s era existential gloom, and full of portraits of frustrated literary mediocrity. It is quite frightening to be a writer reading this stuff!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read to go along with Pohl's "The Way the Future Was", Patterson's Heinlein biography and Asimov's last autobiography.

Knight tells some of the same stories from yet another point of view. Interesting book. I liked it well enough.

[Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

No reason for anyone to read this unless they were for some reason really interested in a bunch of inside anecdotes from the early days of sf, conventions, and fanzines.