Product Description
Judith Merril was a pioneer of twentieth-century science fiction, a prolificauthor and one of the best-known editors in the field. Nicknamed The Grandmother of ScienceFiction, or The Little Mother of Science Fiction, she burst onto the scene in 1948 with adisturbing story about nuclear radiation. She was also a passionate social and political activist. Infact, her life was a constant adventure within the alternative and experimental worlds of sciencefiction, politics and literature.She died in 1997.Written by her granddaughter, this lovingmemoir and biography is illustrated with* original art works * covers from classic sciencefiction magazines * period illustrations * personal and art photographsThough Judith Merril'sclassic books are now out-of-print, they are widely available in libraries and used book stores;and first editions of her work are quite collectible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Leaves you wanting more...
Judith Merrill made her reputation in the science fiction world as the premier anthologist of her day.Her best-of-the-year series, while somewhat eccentric, is probably the most consistently interesting annual anthology in the field's history.I have fond memories of reading these and other anthologies of hers as an adolescent fan and, naturally, began to wonder about the real person behind these fine compilations.

After reading this book, I am, to a large extent, still wondering.

"Better to Have Loved" barely scratches the surface of what must have been a complex and fascinating life story.Enough is revealed to show her to have been a rather difficult, emotionally unstable, sexually promiscuous (and probably bisexual) woman who apparently never really found what she was searching for, and didn't seem to know what it was anyway.She lived a bohemian, unconventional life, driven bypsychological forces characteristic of the borderline personality disorder.I have seen many such cases in my own clinical practice.

But, as fascinating as all of this is, it's not enough.We are given little description of the process by which she became one of the most influential anthologists in sf history.Her relation to science fiction in general is left largely unexplored.We do not get a feel for how or why she became fascinated with the field.Although she must have known most of the primary figures in the field at that time (after all, there weren't that many of them then), little is said about them except for those with whom she had an intimate relationship (e.g., Fred Pohl, Walter Miller, Cyril Kornbluth strictly on the writing side).Strangely, Isaac Asimov is not mentioned.John W. Campbell is given short shrift. And much of the volume is taken up with reproductions of long personal letters which could have been interesting only to the principals involved.

It is entirely possible, of course, that what we are given is about all that was available to the book's "autobiographer," Judith's granddaughter, Emily Pohl-Weary.If so, it is unfair to be too critical.Most of what's here is interesting, but it left me wanting a lot more.

Herstory of Science Fiction
This book is juicy (there's gossip about famous sci fi writers!) and Merril has insteresting views on important political and cultural events. It tells the story of early science fiction from the perspective of an independent, unique, fascinating woman. It made me think about how history is recorded and that the only stories that seem to count are the ones that are written down.

a mere shadow on the hearth
Perhaps if Judith Merril had lived to complete her memoirs, they could have rivalled Isaac Asimov's In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt. However, we will never know; she died with her life's chronicle barely begun, leaving grand-daughter Emily to salvage this book from her notes. The result is a sump of anecdotes and letters, giving a tantalising glimpse of this prominent female member of the early science fiction writing community.

Although Merril takes an early pop at sanitised SF autobiographies (presumably referring to ex-husband Fred Pohl's The Way the Future Was), editor Emily openly admits to cutting some of her juicier revelations; yesterday's ex-husbands are still today's cherished grandfathers. Instead, she tips reams of cliquey, fannish correspondence into the text, while neglecting all but the briefest glimpse of the inner workings of Merril's mind as an author or editor.

I was open to the possibility that Merril was an influential SF author, or even, like Gardner Dozois, a talented writer who sacrificed her own career to help others. It was this possibility that led me to buy this book, since Merril was conspicuous in her absence from Fred Pohl's own memoirs, and I suspected something untoward was going on. However, in a book that seems to spend more time singing the praises of Toronto as a tourist destination, there is only one point at which the text devotes any significant amount of space to Merril's craft, and that only succeeds in making her look like a naïve buffoon. Her muddled musings on Japanese linguistics left me aghast, as did the realisation that this darling of the SF world had taken several months to stumble upon the realisation that a good translator should speak both the source and target language. In layman's terms, this is akin to discovering that the words you're reading are best approached from left to right.

Emily Pohl-Weary's rescue job appears to have been a heroic effort, but ultimately self-defeating. I can only assume that there was so little of the true Merril left to work with, that the best Emily could hope for was a basic chronology of her grandmother's life, with a couple of asides on the way. I don't doubt that Merril is worthy of a book-length study, but this volume failed to provide any evidence of why. More about why her writings were so highly thought-of would have helped greatly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Far-Out Collection
A truly fabulous collection, mainly focusing on stories of fantasy and horror written by authors who made their mark in SF and other genres.

CONTENTS:

Wolves Don't CryBruce ElliottF&SF 1954
The Ambassadors Anthony BoucherStartling 1952
Share Alike Jerome Bixby & Joe DeanBeyond 1953
Blood Fredric BrownF&SF 1955
A Way of Thinking Theodore SturgeonAbelard Press 1953
Child's PlayWilliam Tenn Astounding 1947
O Ugly Bird!Manly Wade Wellman F&SF 1951
The Wheelbarrow Boy Richard Parker F&SF 1953
Fish StoryLeslie Charteris Blue Book 1953
Desertion Clifford D. SimakF&ampSF 1952
Triflin' ManWalter M. Miller Jr. Fantastic Universe 1955
The Night He CriedFritz Leiber Star SF #1 1953
The Demon KingJ. B. Priestleyfrom "My Best Thriller"
Proof of the PuddingRobert SheckleyAstounding 1952
HomecomingRay Bradbury Mademoiselle 1947
Mop-UpArthur PorgesF&SF 1953
... Read more

Product Description
Final entry in long running series of best stories anthologies. 30 short stories, including: When I Was Miss Dow, by Sonya Dorman (1995 James Tiptree, Jr. Award winner, classics); An Ornament to His Profession, by Charles L. Harness (Hugo and Nebula nominee); The Star-Pit, by Samuel R. Delany; The Primary Education of the Camiroi, by R. A. Lafferty; The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D, by J. G. Ballard; Confluence, by Brian W. Aldiss; They Do Not Always Remember, by William S. Burroughs; The Winter Flies, by Fritz Leiber; Chicken Icarus, by Carol Emshwiller; The Other, by Katherine MacLean; In the Egg, by Günter Grass; During the Jurassic, by John Updike; and others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Old but parts are great
As far as I know, this was the last 'Best SF of the Year' collection by Judith Merril from her late, post-modern period.I think it's the best of all the 'Best SF' collections, with some outstanding underrecognized stories.On of my list of top SF stories ever is 'An Ornament to his Profession' by Charles Harness--absolutely uncanny if you like the Faust myth, Goethe version.It's about selling your soul to/for your work, consciously or unconsciously.Maybe better than Zelazny's 'For a Breath I Tarry', though Harness' point is completely different and novel.Another is Samuel Delany's 'The Star-Pit.'I would say it's his top work of all sorts [pace Babel-17 and Dhalgren], or at least top 3--and the best, because most mature, short story.He balances out his enamorement with child prodigies via an adult protagonist with reasonable-portrayed, mature, socially rooted hang-ups.Plus too many good-to-great others by good-to-great authors to list.If you're open to older SF that's pretty indistinguashable from the latest, this collection is worth any of the Amazon prices. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Indian Child Life is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Edwin Willard Deming is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Edwin Willard Deming then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This certainly could be entitled "The Best of Judith Merril." Seven stories, published between 1948-58, by an underrated writer who was, sadly, savaged by critics for taking such a "feminine" viewpoint while constructing her tales. This is second printing, 1963.

CONTENTS:

Introduction, by Theodore Sturgeon; That Only a Mother [Astounding, June 1948]; Peeping Tom [Startling, Spring 1954]; [The Lady Was a Tramp [Venture, July 1957]; Whoever You Are [Startling, December 1952]; Connection Completed [Universe, Summer 1954]; Dead Center [F&SF, November 1954]; Death Cannot Wither [F&SF, February 1959] ... Read more

Product Description
Another in the series of the Years Best Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by "the little mother of science fiction". ... Read more