Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlen, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
Audio CD – Unabridged, October 23, 2018
Description
Astounding has taught me things I didn't know; put in context things I did know; and corrected things I thought I knew. This is a wonderful, well-written book; a delight to read.-- "David Drake, author of Hammer's Slammers" Astounding is a sharp and detailed history of some of the major players in one of the most significant periods in modern science fiction. Highly recommended!-- "Greg Bear, author of Blood Music" A laser-sharp study of science fiction's golden age, the product of a small circle of writers and their guiding editor...A welcome contribution to the study of popular literature. -- "Kirkus Reviews" Alec Nevala-Lee has brilliantly recreated the era...A remarkable work of literary history. -- "Robert Silverberg, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author" The golden age of science fiction, spanning the years 1939 to 1950, gets an authoritative examination in this fascinating appraisal of its key players...A major work of popular culture scholarship that science fiction fans will devour. -- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"[ Astounding ] is a major work of popular culture scholarship that science fiction fans will devour.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"A big biography of John Campbell, the genius magazine editor who created a mass market for science fiction, couldn't be timelier. Alec Nevala-Lee's granular portrait of Campbell and the quirky superstars whose careers he launched in the 1940s and 1950s is a gift to science fiction fans everywhere.-- "Sylvia Nasar, New York Times bestselling author of A Beautiful Mind"A laser-sharp study of science fiction's golden age, the product of a small circle of writers and their guiding editor...Nevala-Lee's warts-and-all look is a welcome contribution to the study of popular literature.-- "Kirkus Reviews"A riveting read-a journey to another dimension, one that tells us a lot about creativity, human resilience, and even American exceptionalism. The book is a must read for lovers of science fiction, to be sure, but really for anyone interested in culture, and how it jumps, bounces, and changes.-- "Cass R. Sunstein, New York Times bestselling author of The World According to Star Wars, and Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School"Alec Nevala-Lee has brilliantly recreated the era eighty years ago when a handful of dedicated writers and one extraordinary editor gave American science fiction its modern shape. It is a remarkable work of literary history.-- "Robert Silverberg, Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America"Science fiction has been awaiting this history/biography for more than half a century....Here it is. This is the most important historical and critical work my field has ever seen. Alec Nevala-Lee's superb scholarship and insight have made the seemingly impossible a radiant and irreplaceable gift.-- "Barry N. Malzberg, author of Beyond Apollo"This is a fascinating, well-written, and deeply researched account of the golden age of science fiction. The lives of the writers are every bit as compelling as their best stories and Nevala-Lee brings them alive.-- "Jon Atack, author of Let's Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky: Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology"
Features & Highlights
- The Metaphysical Club
- meets
- The Secret History of Wonder Woman
- in the first popular, comprehensive account of the partnership between four otherworldly visionaries who invented modern science fiction and changed our culture forever--John W. Campbell, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and L. Ron Hubbard.
- As the editor of the magazine
- Astounding Science Fiction
- for nearly four decades--from 1937 until his death in 1971--John W. Campbell, Jr. discovered such legendary writers as Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein and collaborated with L. Ron Hubbard on the development of dianetics, the philosophical foundation of the controversial Church of Scientology. In this extraordinary cultural biography, Alec Nevala-Lee tells the story of these four men, their relationships, and their collective vision of the future, revealing in unprecedented scope, drama, and detail how the literary genre of science fiction emerged to shape the imaginations of millions.
- Astounding
- follows these four friends and sometime rivals through the invention of modern science fiction in the thirties; their experiences in World War II; the dawn of dianetics, in which Campbell's pivotal role is fully examined for the first time; and the tragic final act that estranged him from the others and marked the end of science fiction's golden age. Drawing on dozens of interviews and thousands of unpublished letters, Nevala-Lee illuminates the enduring legacy of this circle of writers, vividly recreates the remarkable era in which they flourished, and offers a wealth of new insights into the nature and secret history of a genre that has transformed our world and the future itself.
