ePub The Way The Future Was: A Memoir download

by Frederik Pohl

Author:

Frederik Pohl

ISBN13:

978-0345277145

ISBN:

0345277147

Language:

English

Publisher:

Ballantine Books; 1st edition (1978)

Category:

Reference

Subcategory:

Writing Research & Publishing Guides

ePub file:

1821 kb

Fb2 file:

1674 kb

Other formats:

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Rating:

4.2

Votes:

987

Frederik Pohl Writing Research and Publishing Guides English

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Home Frederik Pohl The Way the Future Was: A Memoir. It’s been a long road, from the scruffy Ivory Tower where the Futurians denned to a time when much that was science fiction is now reality-and Fred Pohl retraces it with candor, wit, and abiding love.

Home Frederik Pohl The Way the Future Was: A Memoir. Published by Ballantine Books.

Start by marking The Way the Future Was: A Memoir as Want to Read .

Start by marking The Way the Future Was: A Memoir as Want to Read: Want to Read savin. ant to Read. Here is his story of how he got to all those places and what it was like getting there.

In the minds of most civilians, the life of a writer has got to be glamorous and exciting. Well, it is, some of the time. But none of these occur when he is actively engaged at his employment. When he is writing, he is the nearest thing to a vegetable that you will find registered to vote. He doesn't even have the apparent function of pushing typewriter keys most of the time, because during most of that sitting time the activity is all internal and thus invisible

The Way the Future Blogs, an online memoir by science fiction writer Frederik Pohl Blog.

The Way the Future Blogs, an online memoir by science fiction writer Frederik Pohl Blog. When I say I grew up in Brooklyn, those who are aware that Brooklyn is nothing grander than just one of the five boroughs of the megalopolis called New York are likely to have a mental picture of a six-year-old dodging trolleys for his life and never seeing a tree leaf out in the springtime.

I can safely recommend Frederik Pohl's The Way the Future Was to everyone with an interest in the history of science fiction and science fiction fandom.

n-us -. Personal Name: Pohl, Frederik. The administration of the site is not responsible for the content of the site. The data of catalog based on open source database. All rights are reserved by their owners. Download book The way the future was : a memoir, Frederik Pohl.

Pohl's life ought to be an autobiographer's dream. Still, though better chunks of Pohl biography may be found in the Aldiss-Harrison Hell's Cartographers and The Early Pohl, fans will want The Way the Future Was in full. Like many sci-fi writers, he became hooked on the stuff during a Depression childhood. By the age of 17, he was not only a member of the remarkable sci-fi Cosa Nostra known as the Futurian Society, but also a self-constituted literary agent, promoting his friends' and his own stories to John W. Campbell at Astounding.

Pohl is an engaging writer. The book is fast-paced and often funny. The events he’s writing about are fascinating. He went broke being an agent in the SF boom of the fifties. He collaborated with Cyril Kornbluth, Jack Williamson and Arthur C. Clarke.

One of the Grand Masters of SCi-Fi relates tales of the early days of the genre becoming important.

Hidden Winter

Intriguing insights into the coterie of sf writers and editors that formed the basis for the initial phase of the coming of age of Science Fiction. These were many of the authors I read when I was close to the age they were when they started out. At many points, however, they also sounded like typical college age young-and-not-adults with their infighting with other sf groups and within their own ranks; with the partying that drove other tenants away. This is a good companion read for Damon Knight's book on the Futurians (of which Pohl was one of the prime movers and leaders). Can also see that some mythical figures, such as John Campbell and Hugo Gernsback, were complete with serious faults: Campbell with his racism really based on being superior (oh, how we strive for that); yet he was also a masterful editor. Hugo Gernsback has the genre's most prestigious aware named after him, he was imaginative, but he was totally dishonest with his writers, so often not paying them at all (unless forced to in a lawsuit). And, I just discovered Pohl's web site ([...]) and his blog ([...] He lives!

Ttexav

Fred Pohl is one of the last of the original science fiction greats. He started publishing stories in the 1930's and he's still going. (I don't actually know if he's working on new SF now, but he's blogging at least...) He's been just about everything one can be in the field: fan, writer, editor, agent, president of SFWA, and more. This book is a marvelous look at his life up to the mid-70's (it's incredible that it's been so long since it was written!). From his experience in the Young Communist League in the 1930's (and what that meant at the time) to his service as an Air Force weatherman in World War II, his sojourn in the advertising business, his exploration of such fields as number theory, UFOs, ESP, and cryogenics, and of course his thoughts on writing, editing, publishing, teaching, and more. All written with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. It's just one of my favorite autobiographical works around.

Steel_Blade

This is not just an autobiography of Mr. Pohl, this is an autobiography of the beginning of American Science Fiction as we know it. As a rule, Mr. Pohl's syntax has me screaming. Outloud. This would not be one of those times.

The Way The Future Was, aside from being a really snappy title, sets the groundwork for what has become a significant industry, and Mr. Pohl allows us in on the ground floor. Iconic figures like Asimov, Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard become people you meet, watch grow up and literally change the world.

There is an immediacy to the work, that even today makes it fresh. There are some sections with truly cringe worthy slang but barring that, it is a window into a golden period where you get to watch the birth of something very, very special.

Of all the words Mr. Pohl has written, I like these best.

Olelifan

Two days ago before Frederick Pohl has passed away on September, 2nd 2013 I was reading the story “The Reunion At Mile-High”, just translated and published by the italian SF magazine “Robot”. It made me remember when I first read stories by Pohl, Kornbluth, Asimov and so on when I was a boy, more than thirty years ago. I was 13 in the 80s in Italy and somehow I felt as I were a Futurian there with them in NY in the 30s! That’s the magic of literature, I guess. As another SF fan, Curt Phillips, has writtem, our SF world is definitely smaller now that Frederik Pohl has passed away. Reading "The Way The Future Was" allows us to remember when it was bigger! Thanks for everything and goodbye to Frederick Pohl from the Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley, Italy.

Corgustari

I expected a more colorful narrative but it dragged and did not really
enlighten an era through being too detailed on a factual, personal level.

Questanthr

This autobiography is such a good read, packed full of interesting details of the development of science fiction in the USA. It is permeated with a love of science fiction and everything connected to it.

Here is a brief outline of the contents:

Frederik Pohl was born in 1920, began reading science fiction age 10, and within a few years had read every copy of every science fiction magazine available. Age 17 he co-founded "The Futurians" science fiction club which numbered several future significant writers and editors. By the age of 19 he had progressed from writing his own stories and editing fanzines to be employed as editor of two science fiction magazines. After the war he acted as literary agent for many of the most well-known science fiction authors, only giving up this role in 1953 with debts of $10,000. He then concentrated on writing for several years until taking on the role of editor of first "Galaxy", then also "If" and "Worlds of Tomorrow". He knew and socialised with many well-known people in science fiction and I was particularly interested in his impressions of the editors Hugo Gernsback, John Campbell, and Horace Gold. During the time span of this book he was also married three times and had four children, one of whom died tragically young. He was also, pre-war, in the Young Communist League, a weatherman in the US Airforce in Italy during the war, and worked in advertising immediately after the war.

This outline does not do justice to just how readable and interesting this book is. I found it fascinating to read about these years. Frederik Pohl must have been a remarkable mover and shaker to have achieved so much.

I was recommended to read this book by Bud Webster in his wonderful "Past Masters", so thank you Bud.

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