Alfred Bester
Encyclopedia
Alfred Bester was an American
science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. Though successful in all these fields, he is probably best remembered today for his work as a science fiction author, and as the winner of the first Hugo Award
in 1953 for his novel The Demolished Man
.
Alfred Bester was born in Manhattan
, New York City, on December 18, 1913. His father James owned a shoe store, and was a first-generation American whose parents were both Austrian. Alfred's mother, Belle, was born in Russia and spoke Yiddish as her first language before coming to America as a youth. Alfred was James and Belle's second and final child, and only son. (Their first child, Rita, was born in 1908.) Though his father was of Jewish background, and his mother became a Christian Scientist, Alfred Bester himself wasn't raised within any religious traditions.
Bester attended the University of Pennsylvania
where he was a member of the Philomathean Society
. He went on to Columbia Law School
, but tired of it and dropped out. Bester and Rolly Goulko married in 1936. Rolly Bester
had a successful career as a Broadway, radio and television actress before changing careers to become an advertising executive during the 1960s. The Besters remained married for 48 years until her death on January 12, 1984. Bester was very nearly a lifelong New Yorker, although he lived in Europe for a little over a year in the mid-1950s and moved to Pennsylvania with Rolly in the early 1980s. Once settled there, they lived on Geigel Hill Road in Ottsville, Pennsylvania.
famously opted not to enter — the prize was only $50, and Heinlein realized that he could do better by selling his 7,000-word unpublished story to Astounding Science Fiction for a penny a word, or $70. Bester and Heinlein later became friends and joked about the incident.
For the next few years, Bester continued to publish short fiction, most notably in John W. Campbell
's Astounding Science Fiction. In 1942, two of his science fiction editors got work at DC Comics
, and invited Bester to contribute to various DC titles. Consequently, Bester left the field of short story writing and began working for DC Comics
as a writer on Superman
, Green Lantern
and other titles. It is popularly believed that Bester wrote the version of the Green Lantern Oath that begins "In brightest day, In blackest night".
Bester was also the writer for Lee Falk
's comic strips The Phantom
and Mandrake the Magician
while their creator served in World War II
. It is widely speculated how much influence Bester had on these comics. One theory claims that Bester was responsible for giving the Phantom his surname, "Walker".
After four years in the comics industry, in 1946 Bester turned his attention to radio scripts, after wife Rolly (a busy radio actress) told him that the show Nick Carter, Master Detective
was looking for story submissions. Over the next few years, Bester wrote for Nick Carter, as well as The Shadow
, Charlie Chan
, Nero Wolfe
and other shows. He later wrote for The CBS Radio Mystery Theater
.
With the advent of American network television in 1948, Bester also began writing for television, although most of these projects were lesser-known.
In early 1950, after eight years away from the field, Bester resumed writing science fiction short stories. However, after an initial return to Astounding with the story "The Devil's Invention" (aka "Oddy and Id"), he stopped writing for the magazine in mid-1950 when editor John Campbell
became preoccupied with L. Ron Hubbard
and Dianetics
, the forerunner to Scientology
. Bester then turned to Galaxy Science Fiction
, where he found in H. L. Gold
another exceptional editor as well as a good friend.
and The Stars My Destination
(also known as Tiger! Tiger!).
The Demolished Man
, recipient of the first Hugo Award for best Science Fiction novel, is a police procedural
that takes place in a future world in which telepathy
is relatively common. Bester creates a harshly capitalistic, hierarchical and competitive social world that exists without deceit: a society where the right person with some skill (or money) and curiosity can access your memories, secrets, fears and past misdeeds more swiftly than even you.
Originally published in three parts in Galaxy, beginning in January 1952, The Demolished Man appeared in book form in 1953. It was dedicated to Gold, who made a number of suggestions during its writing. Originally, Bester wanted the title to be Demolition!, but Gold talked him out of it.
Bester's 1953 novel Who He?
concerns a TV variety show writer who wakes up after an alcoholic blackout and discovers that someone is out to destroy his life. A contemporary novel with no science-fiction elements, it did not receive wide attention. It did, however, earn Bester a fair amount of money from the sale of the paperback reprint rights (the book appeared in paperback as The Rat Race). He also received a substantial sum of money from a movie studio for the film option to the book. Reportedly, Jackie Gleason
was interested in starring as the variety show writer; however no movie was ever made of Who He? Still, the payout from the film option was large enough that Alfred and Rolly Bester decided they could afford to travel to Europe for the next few years. They lived mainly in Italy and England during this period.
Bester's next novel was outlined while he was living in England and mostly written when he was living in Rome. The Stars My Destination
(aka Tiger, Tiger) had its origins in a newspaper clipping that Bester found about Poon Lim
, a shipwrecked World War II sailor on a raft, who had drifted unrescued in the Pacific for a world record 133 days because passing ships thought he was a lure to bring them within torpedo range of a hidden submarine. From that germ grew the story of Gully Foyle, seeking revenge for his abandonment and causing havoc all about him: a science fiction re-telling of Alexandre Dumas
' The Count of Monte Cristo
with teleportation
added to the mix. It has been described as an ancestor of cyberpunk
.
As had occurred with The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination was originally serialized in Galaxy. It ran in four parts (October 1956 through January 1957) and the book was published later in 1957. Though repeatedly voted in polls the "Best Science Fiction Novel of All Time', The Stars My Destination would prove to be Bester's last novel for 19 years. A radio adaptation was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
and Anthony Quinn
. As a result of steady work with Holiday, Bester's science fiction output dropped precipitously in the years following the publication of The Stars My Destination.
Bester published three short stories each in 1958 and 1959, including 1958's "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed
" and 1959's "The Pi Man", both of which were nominated for Hugo Awards. However, for a four-year period from October 1959 to October 1963, he published no fiction at all. Instead, he concentrated on his work at Holiday (where he was made a senior editor), reviewed books for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (from 1960 to 1962) and returned to television scripting.
In 1959, Bester adapted his 1954 story "Fondly Fahrenheit" to television as Murder and the Android. Telecast in color on October 18, 1959, the hour-long drama took place in the year 2359 amid futuristic sets designed by Ted Cooper. This NBC Sunday Showcase
production, produced by Robert Alan Aurthur
with a cast of Kevin McCarthy
, Rip Torn
, Suzanne Pleshette
and Telly Savalas
, was reviewed by syndicated radio-television critic John Crosby
:
Murder and the Android was nominated for a 1960 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and was given a repeat on September 5, 1960, the Labor Day weekend in which that Hugo Award was presented (to The Twilight Zone
) at the World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh. Bester returned to Sunday Showcase March 5, 1960 with an original teleplay, Turn the Key Deftly. Telecast in color, that mystery, set in a traveling circus, starred Julie Harris
, Maximilian Schell
and Francis Lederer
.
For Alcoa Premiere
, hosted by Fred Astaire
, he wrote Mr. Lucifer, which aired November 1, 1962 with Astaire in the title role opposite Elizabeth Montgomery
.
Still, as senior editor of Holiday, Bester was able to introduce occasional science-fiction elements into the non-fiction magazine. On one occasion, he commissioned and published an article by Arthur C. Clarke
describing a tourist flight to the Moon. Bester himself, though, never published any science fiction in Holiday, which was a mainstream travel/lifestyle magazine marketed to upscale readers during an era when science fiction was largely dismissed as juvenilia.
After a long layoff from writing science fiction, Bester returned to the field in 1972. His 1974 short story "The Four-Hour Fugue
" was nominated for a Hugo Award
, and Bester received Hugo and Nebula Award
nominations for his 1975 novel The Computer Connection
(titled The Indian Giver as a magazine serial and later reprinted as Extro). Despite these nominations, Bester's work of this era generally failed to receive the critical or commercial success of his earlier period.
Bester's eyesight began failing in the mid-1970s, making writing increasingly difficult, and another layoff from published writing took place between early 1975 and early 1979. It is alleged during this period that the producer of the 1978 Superman
movie sent his son off to search for a writer. The name Alfred Bester came up, but Bester wanted to focus the story on Clark Kent
as the real hero, while Superman
was only "his gun." The producers instead hired Mario Puzo
, author of The Godfather
, to write the film.
Bester published two short stories in 1979 and rang in the 1980s with the publication of two new novels: Golem100
(1980), and The Deceivers (1981). In addition to his failing eyesight, other health issues began to affect him, and Bester produced no new published work after 1981. His wife Rolly died in 1984.
In 1985, it was announced that Bester would be Guest of Honor at the 1987 World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Brighton. As the event neared, however, Bester fell and broke his hip. With his worsening overall health, he was plainly too ill to attend. Doris Lessing
stepped in as a last-minute replacement.
Bester died less than a month after the convention from complications related to his broken hip. However, shortly before his death he learned that the Science Fiction Writers of America would honor him with their Grand Master Nebula award at their 1988 convention.
Two works by Bester were issued posthumously. The first, Tender Loving Rage
(1991), was a mainstream (i.e., non-science fiction) novel that was probably written in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The second, Psychoshop
(1998), was based on an incomplete 92-page story fragment. It was completed by Roger Zelazny
and remained unpublished until three years after Zelazny's death. When issued, it was credited as a collaborative work.
Alfred Bester had no children, and according to legend, left everything to his bartender, Joe Suder. That much is, in fact, true. However, the claim that Suder didn't know or remember Bester is legend rather than fact; Bester stopped by Suder's bar every morning on his way to get his mail, and the two men were friends.
Hugo Award:
Hugo nominations:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. Though successful in all these fields, he is probably best remembered today for his work as a science fiction author, and as the winner of the first Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
in 1953 for his novel The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
.
Biography
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City, on December 18, 1913. His father James owned a shoe store, and was a first-generation American whose parents were both Austrian. Alfred's mother, Belle, was born in Russia and spoke Yiddish as her first language before coming to America as a youth. Alfred was James and Belle's second and final child, and only son. (Their first child, Rita, was born in 1908.) Though his father was of Jewish background, and his mother became a Christian Scientist, Alfred Bester himself wasn't raised within any religious traditions.
Bester attended the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
where he was a member of the Philomathean Society
Philomathean Society
The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university, and a claimant to the title of the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States.This claim is disputed between the Philomathean Society and...
. He went on to Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
, but tired of it and dropped out. Bester and Rolly Goulko married in 1936. Rolly Bester
Rolly Bester
Rolly Goulko Bester was an American actress, and later an advertising executive. She was the wife of science fiction author Alfred Bester.-Career:...
had a successful career as a Broadway, radio and television actress before changing careers to become an advertising executive during the 1960s. The Besters remained married for 48 years until her death on January 12, 1984. Bester was very nearly a lifelong New Yorker, although he lived in Europe for a little over a year in the mid-1950s and moved to Pennsylvania with Rolly in the early 1980s. Once settled there, they lived on Geigel Hill Road in Ottsville, Pennsylvania.
Early SF career, comic books, radio (1939–50)
After his university career, 25-year-old Alfred Bester was working in public relations when he turned to writing science fiction. Bester's first published short story, "The Broken Axiom," was published in Thrilling Wonder Stories (April 1939) after winning an amateur story competition. Reputedly, this competition was arranged by editors who knew Bester and were favorably inclined toward his early work as a way of giving him a break into the field. This contest, incidentally, was also the same amateur story contest that Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
famously opted not to enter — the prize was only $50, and Heinlein realized that he could do better by selling his 7,000-word unpublished story to Astounding Science Fiction for a penny a word, or $70. Bester and Heinlein later became friends and joked about the incident.
For the next few years, Bester continued to publish short fiction, most notably in John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
's Astounding Science Fiction. In 1942, two of his science fiction editors got work at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, and invited Bester to contribute to various DC titles. Consequently, Bester left the field of short story writing and began working for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
as a writer on Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
and other titles. It is popularly believed that Bester wrote the version of the Green Lantern Oath that begins "In brightest day, In blackest night".
Bester was also the writer for Lee Falk
Lee Falk
Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...
's comic strips The Phantom
The Phantom
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...
and Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician
Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...
while their creator served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It is widely speculated how much influence Bester had on these comics. One theory claims that Bester was responsible for giving the Phantom his surname, "Walker".
After four years in the comics industry, in 1946 Bester turned his attention to radio scripts, after wife Rolly (a busy radio actress) told him that the show Nick Carter, Master Detective
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Nick Carter, Master Detective was a Mutual radio crime drama based on tales of the famed detective from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter, a reference to the character's pulp origins, but the title was soon changed to Nick...
was looking for story submissions. Over the next few years, Bester wrote for Nick Carter, as well as The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
, Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
and other shows. He later wrote for The CBS Radio Mystery Theater
CBS Radio Mystery Theater
CBS Radio Mystery Theater was a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS affiliates from 1974 to 1982....
.
With the advent of American network television in 1948, Bester also began writing for television, although most of these projects were lesser-known.
In early 1950, after eight years away from the field, Bester resumed writing science fiction short stories. However, after an initial return to Astounding with the story "The Devil's Invention" (aka "Oddy and Id"), he stopped writing for the magazine in mid-1950 when editor John Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
became preoccupied with L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
and Dianetics
Dianetics
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology...
, the forerunner to Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
. Bester then turned to Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
, where he found in H. L. Gold
H. L. Gold
Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two...
another exceptional editor as well as a good friend.
The classic period: 1951–57
In his first period of writing science fiction (1939–1942), Bester had been establishing a reputation as a short story writer in science fiction circles with stories such as "Adam and No Eve". However, Bester gained his greatest renown for the work he wrote and published in the 1950s, including The Demolished ManThe Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
and The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
(also known as Tiger! Tiger!).
The Demolished Man (1953)
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
, recipient of the first Hugo Award for best Science Fiction novel, is a police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
that takes place in a future world in which telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
is relatively common. Bester creates a harshly capitalistic, hierarchical and competitive social world that exists without deceit: a society where the right person with some skill (or money) and curiosity can access your memories, secrets, fears and past misdeeds more swiftly than even you.
Originally published in three parts in Galaxy, beginning in January 1952, The Demolished Man appeared in book form in 1953. It was dedicated to Gold, who made a number of suggestions during its writing. Originally, Bester wanted the title to be Demolition!, but Gold talked him out of it.
Who He? aka The Rat Race (1953)
Who He?
Who He is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester, published in 1953. As of mid-year 2006, this book is out of print.-Plot summary:...
concerns a TV variety show writer who wakes up after an alcoholic blackout and discovers that someone is out to destroy his life. A contemporary novel with no science-fiction elements, it did not receive wide attention. It did, however, earn Bester a fair amount of money from the sale of the paperback reprint rights (the book appeared in paperback as The Rat Race). He also received a substantial sum of money from a movie studio for the film option to the book. Reportedly, Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
was interested in starring as the variety show writer; however no movie was ever made of Who He? Still, the payout from the film option was large enough that Alfred and Rolly Bester decided they could afford to travel to Europe for the next few years. They lived mainly in Italy and England during this period.
The Stars My Destination (1956)
Bester's next novel was outlined while he was living in England and mostly written when he was living in Rome. The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination
The Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
(aka Tiger, Tiger) had its origins in a newspaper clipping that Bester found about Poon Lim
Poon Lim
Poon Lim or Lim Poon BEM was a Chinese sailor who survived 133 days alone in the South Atlantic.-Castaway:...
, a shipwrecked World War II sailor on a raft, who had drifted unrescued in the Pacific for a world record 133 days because passing ships thought he was a lure to bring them within torpedo range of a hidden submarine. From that germ grew the story of Gully Foyle, seeking revenge for his abandonment and causing havoc all about him: a science fiction re-telling of Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
' The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
with teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
added to the mix. It has been described as an ancestor of cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
.
As had occurred with The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination was originally serialized in Galaxy. It ran in four parts (October 1956 through January 1957) and the book was published later in 1957. Though repeatedly voted in polls the "Best Science Fiction Novel of All Time', The Stars My Destination would prove to be Bester's last novel for 19 years. A radio adaptation was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
Magazine fiction and non-fiction: 1959–62
While on his European trip, Bester began selling non-fiction pieces about various European locations to the mainstream travel/lifestyle magazine Holiday. The Holiday editors, impressed with his work, invited Bester back to their headquarters in New York and began commissioning him to write travel articles about various far-flung locales, as well as doing interviews with such stars as Sophia LorenSophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
and Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
. As a result of steady work with Holiday, Bester's science fiction output dropped precipitously in the years following the publication of The Stars My Destination.
Bester published three short stories each in 1958 and 1959, including 1958's "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed
The Men Who Murdered Mohammed
"The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester; it was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1958...
" and 1959's "The Pi Man", both of which were nominated for Hugo Awards. However, for a four-year period from October 1959 to October 1963, he published no fiction at all. Instead, he concentrated on his work at Holiday (where he was made a senior editor), reviewed books for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (from 1960 to 1962) and returned to television scripting.
Television: 1959–62
NBC Sunday Showcase
NBC Sunday Showcase was a series of hour-long specials telecast in color on NBC during the 1959-60 season. The flexible anthology format varied weekly from comedies and science fiction to musicals and historical dramas...
production, produced by Robert Alan Aurthur
Robert Alan Aurthur
Robert Alan Aurthur was an American screenwriter, director and TV producer.-Television:In the early years of television, he wrote for Studio One and then moved on to write episodes of Mister Peepers...
with a cast of Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (actor)
Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
, Rip Torn
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
, Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
and Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
, was reviewed by syndicated radio-television critic John Crosby
John Crosby (media critic)
John Crosby was a newspaper columnist, radio-television critic, novelist and TV host. During the 1950s, he was generally regarded as the leading critic of television....
:
- Despite the fact that the androids refer contemptuously to human beings as people who suffer from glandular disorders called emotions, Torn wants very much to suffer from these disorders himself. Eventually, he does. I have no intention of unraveling the whole plot which was not so much complicated as psychologically dense. If I understand him correctly, Mr. Bester is trying to say that having androids to free us of mundane preoccupations like work is by no means good for us. His humans are pretty close to being bums.
Murder and the Android was nominated for a 1960 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and was given a repeat on September 5, 1960, the Labor Day weekend in which that Hugo Award was presented (to The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
) at the World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh. Bester returned to Sunday Showcase March 5, 1960 with an original teleplay, Turn the Key Deftly. Telecast in color, that mystery, set in a traveling circus, starred Julie Harris
Julie Harris
Julia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
, Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell is an Austrian-born Swiss actor who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961...
and Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer was a film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.-Europe:...
.
For Alcoa Premiere
Alcoa Premiere
Alcoa Premiere is the title of a TV drama series that aired from 1961 to 1963 and hosted by Fred Astaire and directed by Norman Lloyd. Each episode presented a new drama which often offered powerful stories on painful or controversial subjects as opposed to classic drama...
, hosted by Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
, he wrote Mr. Lucifer, which aired November 1, 1962 with Astaire in the title role opposite Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
.
Senior editor of Holiday: 1963–71
After a four year layoff, Bester published a handful of science-fiction short stories in 1963 and 1964. However, writing science-fiction was at this stage in Bester's life clearly more of a sideline than the focus of his career. As a result, from 1964 until the original version of Holiday folded in 1971, Bester published only one science-fiction short story, a 700-word science fiction spoof in the upscale mainstream magazine Status.Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
describing a tourist flight to the Moon. Bester himself, though, never published any science fiction in Holiday, which was a mainstream travel/lifestyle magazine marketed to upscale readers during an era when science fiction was largely dismissed as juvenilia.
Later career: 1972–87
Holiday magazine ceased publication in 1971, although it was later revived and reformatted by other hands, without Bester's involvement. For the first time in nearly 15 years, Bester did not have full-time employment.After a long layoff from writing science fiction, Bester returned to the field in 1972. His 1974 short story "The Four-Hour Fugue
The Four-Hour Fugue
The Four-Hour Fugue is a short story by science fiction writer Alfred Bester. It was nominated for the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Short Story of the Year...
" was nominated for a Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
, and Bester received Hugo and Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
nominations for his 1975 novel The Computer Connection
The Computer Connection
The Computer Connection is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Originally published as a serial in Analog Science Fiction , it appeared in book form in 1975. Some editions give it the title Extro...
(titled The Indian Giver as a magazine serial and later reprinted as Extro). Despite these nominations, Bester's work of this era generally failed to receive the critical or commercial success of his earlier period.
Bester's eyesight began failing in the mid-1970s, making writing increasingly difficult, and another layoff from published writing took place between early 1975 and early 1979. It is alleged during this period that the producer of the 1978 Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
movie sent his son off to search for a writer. The name Alfred Bester came up, but Bester wanted to focus the story on Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
as the real hero, while Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
was only "his gun." The producers instead hired Mario Puzo
Mario Puzo
Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
, author of The Godfather
The Godfather (novel)
The Godfather is a crime novel written by Italian American author Mario Puzo, originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in New York City and headed by Don Vito Corleone, who became synonymous with the Italian Mafia...
, to write the film.
Bester published two short stories in 1979 and rang in the 1980s with the publication of two new novels: Golem100
Golem100
Golem100 is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Currently out of print, it was published by Timescape Books in 1980, ISBN 0-671-82047-8.-Plot introduction:...
(1980), and The Deceivers (1981). In addition to his failing eyesight, other health issues began to affect him, and Bester produced no new published work after 1981. His wife Rolly died in 1984.
In 1985, it was announced that Bester would be Guest of Honor at the 1987 World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Brighton. As the event neared, however, Bester fell and broke his hip. With his worsening overall health, he was plainly too ill to attend. Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
stepped in as a last-minute replacement.
Bester died less than a month after the convention from complications related to his broken hip. However, shortly before his death he learned that the Science Fiction Writers of America would honor him with their Grand Master Nebula award at their 1988 convention.
Tender Loving Rage
Tender Loving Rage is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester, published posthumously in 1991, four years after Bester's death in 1987.-Plot summary:...
(1991), was a mainstream (i.e., non-science fiction) novel that was probably written in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The second, Psychoshop
Psychoshop
Psychoshop is a science fiction novel begun by Alfred Bester, who died in 1987, and Roger Zelazny. It was published posthumously in 1998 by Random House under their Vintage imprint, following Zelazny's death in 1995....
(1998), was based on an incomplete 92-page story fragment. It was completed by Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
and remained unpublished until three years after Zelazny's death. When issued, it was credited as a collaborative work.
Alfred Bester had no children, and according to legend, left everything to his bartender, Joe Suder. That much is, in fact, true. However, the claim that Suder didn't know or remember Bester is legend rather than fact; Bester stopped by Suder's bar every morning on his way to get his mail, and the two men were friends.
Legacy and tributes
- Bester has been memorialized by other science fiction writers in their own works. Notably, the character of Psi-Cop Alfred BesterAlfred Bester (Babylon 5)Alfred Bester is a Babylon 5 character played by Walter Koenig. He is a senior Psi Cop and a recurring antagonist in the series. J. Michael Straczynski named the character after the science fiction writer Alfred Bester, since telepathy is a recurring theme in his work .-Early Life and Career:The...
is named after him (and the treatment of telepathyTelepathyTelepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
in Babylon 5Babylon 5Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
is similar to that in Bester's works). As well, the time-travelling pest named Al Phee in Spider RobinsonSpider RobinsonSpider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
's Callahan's Crosstime SaloonCallahan's Crosstime SaloonIn the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic clientele. It appears in the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic...
series is based on Bester. - F. Gwynplaine MacIntyreF. Gwynplaine MacIntyreFergus Gwynplaine MacIntyre was a journalist, novelist, poet and illustrator, who lived in New York City and said he had lived in Scotland and Wales. MacIntyre's writings include the science-fiction novel The Woman Between the Worlds and his anthology of verse and humor pieces MacIntyre's...
wrote a series of stories — beginning with "Time Lines" (published in Analog, 1999) — about a time-traveling criminal named Smedley Faversham, who constantly runs afoul of a scientific principle called "Bester's Law". This term is MacIntyre's invention, but it is explicitly in homage to Alfred Bester's work: specifically, to Bester's 1958 story "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed". Bester's Law, as articulated by MacIntyre, states that a time-traveler who attempts to rewrite the past can only alter his or her own time-line, not anyone else's. Bester's Law is rigidly enforced by a legion of "time cops", whom MacIntyre's protagonist sneeringly refers to as "the Bester Boosters" and "the Bester-Busters". - A radio adaptation of The Stars My Destination was broadcast on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in 1991, although this may have been a repeat broadcast. lists the play as a 60-minute episode, but the original running time was almost certainly 90 minutes. The story was also adapted in the 1970s as a graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
by writer/artist Howard ChaykinHoward ChaykinHoward Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
. - FireflyFirefly (TV series)Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
– Many of the names of off-camera and minor characters are drawn from the ranks of science fiction writers. Notably, Bester as the original mechanic of Serenity. - Lisey's Story – Stephen King's character Scott Landon makes reference to Bester when making a dedication to a new library, saying: "This one's for Alfie Bester, and if you haven't read him, you ought to be ashamed!"
- Comics writer James Robinson entitled a story arc in his Starman series for DC Comics "Stars My Destination".
- Stephen King's short story "The Jaunt," borrows that word for teleportation from Bester's The Stars My DestinationThe Stars My DestinationThe Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
, as does the ITV Television series (and subsequent remake) The Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
. - From The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
Episode "Lisa's SubstituteLisa's Substitute"Lisa's Substitute" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 25, 1991. In the episode, Lisa's teacher Miss Hoover takes medical leave due to what she thinks is Lyme disease, so substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom takes over the...
", Springfield Elementary student, MartinMartin PrinceMartin Prince, Jr. is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Martin is Bart Simpson's classmate, and is Lisa Simpson's rival in intelligence, as well as Nelson Muntz's favorite target for bullying...
, campaigning for class president:
-
- Martin: As your president, I would demand a science-fiction library, featuring an ABC of the overlords of the genre: Asimov, Bester, Clarke!
- Kid: What about Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
? - Martin: (dismissively) I'm aware of his work.
- Folk metalFolk metalFolk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band Slough Feg have several lyrics inspired by his works, most notably Tiger Tiger about The Stars, My Destination. - The Stars My Degradation, a comic strip written by Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
under the pseudonym Curt Vile, and Steve MooreSteve Moore (comics)Steve Moore is a British comics writer.Moore is credited with showing acclaimed writer Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts...
under the pseudonym Pedro Henry, appeared in the British rock music newspaper SoundsSounds (magazine)Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
in the early eighties, featuring their long running character Axel PressbuttonAxel PressbuttonAxel Pressbutton is a comics character who first appeared in the strip "Three-Eyes McGurk and his Death Planet Commandos" in the British rock music magazine Dark Star in 1979....
. The title was an homage to Bester's The Stars, My Destination. The surname Pressbutton is also a reference to the last chapter of the novel where the main character repeatedly uses the phrase "Press the button and I'll jump". - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz draws heavily on themes from The Demolished ManThe Demolished ManThe Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
and incorporates the Man with No Face throughout the novel.
- Folk metal
Notable short stories
- "Adam and No Eve" concerns the last man on Earth (and there are no women, this time). Published in September 1941, this tale concerns an inventor who devises a method of rocket propulsion involving a chemical catalyst that induces atomic fission in elemental ironIronIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, releasing enormous amounts of energy. However, a colleague warns him that if even the tiniest drop of the catalyst were allowed to touch the ground (which contains iron), it would cause a chain reaction that would spread and incinerate the entire surface of the earth. The inventor takes off in his experimental rocketship anyway, and immediately passes out from the high g-forces. When the inventor awakes in orbit and gazes down to earth, he discovers that his colleague had been right: the planet below is destroyed, its entire surface scorched and cauterized by the runaway reaction. Upon crash landing, he sees that he is the last man alive, "Adam and No Eve". Dying from injuries sustained in the crash landing, he realizes that there is only one way he can atone for his actions: by dying, he will enable the bacteria inside his digestive tract to flourish independently, gradually re-initiating the long evolutionary process which may ultimately re-introduce human life or something similar. - "5,271,009" in which a character is placed within various science-fictional wish-fulfillment scenarios, and discovers the flaw in each (the Last Man on Earth, and no dentists...)
- "Fondly Fahrenheit" in which a malfunctioning android becomes murderously violent in hot weather. Not only is the android psychotic, but its owner is also unstable and projects his emotions onto the android. This is emphasized in the story by a remarkable shifting of viewpoint between third-person, and first-person singular and plural from the POV of both the android and the owner. It was adapted to television as Murder and the Android.
- "The Men Who Murdered MohammedThe Men Who Murdered Mohammed"The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester; it was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1958...
" is an ingenious twist on the standard time-paradox story. A man discovers how to travel through time, and arrogantly decides to alter the present by journeying into the past and murdering prominent historical figures. He returns to the present, only to discover that nothing has changed... except that it has, but in an unexpected way. One of Bester's most popular and influential pieces, this story's title is occasionally (and mistakenly) cited as "The Man Who Murdered Mohammed". The plural ("The Men Who...") is correct, due to a surprise revelation in the story. - "The Rollercoaster" in which there's an unusual, ahead-of-his-time treatment of violence and time travel.
- "Time is the TraitorTime is the Traitor"Time Is the Traitor" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester originally published in 1953. It is included in the Bester anthologies The Dark Side of the Earth and Virtual Unrealities . Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the story in 1998...
" is a story of powerful men and obsessive love. Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
bought its film rightsFilm rightsFilm rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work—in this case, a film—derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
for producers Matthew McConaugheyMatthew McConaugheyMatthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
and Denise Di NoviDenise Di NoviDenise Di Novi is an American film producer.-Personal life:When she was three years old, Denise and her family moved to Los Angeles from New York, where her father Gene Di Novi - a musician - made music for the TV shows of Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith. Prior to that, Gene worked...
.
Novels
- The Demolished ManThe Demolished ManThe Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
(1953) - Who He?Who He?Who He is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester, published in 1953. As of mid-year 2006, this book is out of print.-Plot summary:...
(also published as The Rat Race) (1953) - The Stars My DestinationThe Stars My DestinationThe Stars My Destination is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in four parts beginning with the October 1956 issue, it first appeared in book form in the United Kingdom as Tiger! Tiger! – after William Blake's poem "The Tyger", the first verse...
(also published as Tiger, Tiger) (1956) - The Computer ConnectionThe Computer ConnectionThe Computer Connection is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Originally published as a serial in Analog Science Fiction , it appeared in book form in 1975. Some editions give it the title Extro...
(also published as Extro) (1975) - Golem100Golem100Golem100 is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Currently out of print, it was published by Timescape Books in 1980, ISBN 0-671-82047-8.-Plot introduction:...
(1980) - The Deceivers (1981)
- Tender Loving RageTender Loving RageTender Loving Rage is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester, published posthumously in 1991, four years after Bester's death in 1987.-Plot summary:...
(1991) - PsychoshopPsychoshopPsychoshop is a science fiction novel begun by Alfred Bester, who died in 1987, and Roger Zelazny. It was published posthumously in 1998 by Random House under their Vintage imprint, following Zelazny's death in 1995....
(with Roger ZelaznyRoger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
) (1998)
Collections
- StarburstStarburst (Alfred Bester)Starburst is a collection of science fiction stories by Alfred Bester, originally published in paperback by Signet Books in 1958. Signet issued at least four reprint editions of the collection over more than twenty years; British editions were published by Sphere Books and Pan Books.-Contents:*...
(1958) contains the short stories- "Disappearing Act" originally published in 1953
- "Adam and No Eve" originally published in 1941
- "Star Light, Star BrightStar Light, Star Bright (short-story)"Star Light, Star Bright" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester, first published in 1953.- Synopsis :In the story, a man named Marion Perkin Warbeck has discovered children with supernatural powers, which he calls "genius". He is pursuing one Stuart Buchanan, a ten year old boy who he...
" originally published in 1953 - "The Roller Coaster" originally published in 1953
- "Oddy and Id" originally published in 1950 as "The Devil's Invention"
- "The Starcomber" originally published in 1954 as "5,271,009"
- "Travel Diary"
- "Fondly Fahrenheit" originally published in 1954
- "Hobson's Choice" originally published in 1952
- "The Die-Hard"
- "Of Time and Third Avenue" originally published in 1951
- The Dark Side of the Earth (1964) contains the short stories
- "Time is the TraitorTime is the Traitor"Time Is the Traitor" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester originally published in 1953. It is included in the Bester anthologies The Dark Side of the Earth and Virtual Unrealities . Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the story in 1998...
" (originally published in 1953) - "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" (originally published in 1958) (Hugo Award Nominee)
- "Out of This World"
- "The Pi Man" (originally published in 1959) (Hugo Award Nominee)
- "The Flowered Thundermug" (originally published in 1964)
- "Will You Wait?" (originally published in 1959)
- "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To" (originally published in 1963)
- "Time is the Traitor
- An Alfred Bester Omnibus (1968)
- Starlight: The Great Short Fiction of Alfred Bester (1976)
- The Light Fantastic Volume 1: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester (1976)
- Star Light, Star Bright: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester, Volume 2Star Light, Star Bright (book)Star Light, Star Bright is the name of a 1976 collection of science fiction short stories by Alfred Bester containing:* "Adam and No Eve"* "Time Is the Traitor"* "Oddie And Id"* "Hobson's Choice"* "Star Light, Star Bright"...
(1976) - The Light Fantastic Volume 2: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester (1976)
- Virtual UnrealitiesVirtual UnrealitiesVirtual Unrealities is a collection of short stories by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Published in 1997 by Random House ISBN 0-679-76783-5, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg.Virtual Unrealities contains the stories:...
(1997) – contains the stories:- "Disappearing Act" (originally published in 1953)
- "Oddy and Id"
- "Star Light, Star BrightStar Light, Star Bright (short-story)"Star Light, Star Bright" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester, first published in 1953.- Synopsis :In the story, a man named Marion Perkin Warbeck has discovered children with supernatural powers, which he calls "genius". He is pursuing one Stuart Buchanan, a ten year old boy who he...
" " (originally published in 1953, used as the title for two other compilations of Bester's short stories) - "5,271,009" (originally published in 1954)
- "Fondly FahrenheitFondly Fahrenheit (short story)Fondly Fahrenheit is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester. First published in 1954, Bester adapted it for television as Murder and the Android on October 18, 1959...
" (originally published in 1954) - "Hobson's Choice" (originally published in 1952)
- "Of Time and Third Avenue" (originally published in 1952)
- "Time is the TraitorTime is the Traitor"Time Is the Traitor" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester originally published in 1953. It is included in the Bester anthologies The Dark Side of the Earth and Virtual Unrealities . Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the story in 1998...
" (originally published in 1953) - "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" (originally published in 1958) (Hugo Award nominee)
- "The Pi Man" (originally published in 1959) (Hugo Award Nominee)
- "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To" (originally published in 1963)
- "Will You Wait?" (originally published in 1959)
- "The Flowered Thundermug" (originally published in 1964)
- "Adam and No Eve" (originally published in 1941)
- "And 3½ to Go" (fragment – previously unpublished)
- "Galatea Galante" (originally published in 1979)
- "The Devil Without Glasses" (previously unpublished)
- RedemolishedRedemolishedRedemolished is a collection of short stories, interviews, and other articles and essays by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Published in 2000 by iBooks, inc, ISBN 0-7434-8679-X, edited by Richard Raucci....
(2000) – Contains the short stories:- "The Probable Man"
- "Hell is Forever"
- "The Push of a Finger"
- "The Roller Coaster"
- "The Lost Child"
- "I'll Never Celebrate New Year's Again"
- "Out of This World"
- "The Animal Fair"
- "Something Up There Likes MeSomething Up There Likes Me"Something Up There Likes Me" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester. The story was first published in Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology.-Plot introduction:...
" - "The Four-Hour FugueThe Four-Hour FugueThe Four-Hour Fugue is a short story by science fiction writer Alfred Bester. It was nominated for the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Short Story of the Year...
"- Also contains three fictional articles published in Holiday:
- "Gourmet Dining in Outer Space"
- "Place of the Month: The Moon"
- "The Sun"
- Also contains four essays:
- "Science Fiction and the Renaissance Man", originally delivered as a lecture at the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1957. The other lecturers included Cyril Kornbluth, Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
and Robert BlochRobert BlochRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
. - "A Diatribe Against Science Fiction"
- "The Perfect Composite Science Fiction Author"
- "My Affair with Science Fiction"
- Also included are interviews with John HustonJohn HustonJohn Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
and Rex StoutRex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
, a conversation with Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, brief articles on Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
and Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, two deleted prologues and an analysis of The Demolished ManThe Demolished ManThe Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
, plus a memorial for Bester written by Isaac Asimov and an introduction by Gregory S. Benford.
- Also included are interviews with John Huston
Other short fiction
- "Ms. Found In a Champagne Bottle," collected in The Light Fantastic (1976)
Awards
- 1987 SFWA Grand Master Award
- Posthumously inducted into the 2001 class of the Science Fiction Hall of FameScience Fiction Hall of FameThe Science Fiction Hall of Fame can refer to:*Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1994**The hall of fame located there...
Hugo Award:
- The Demolished ManThe Demolished ManThe Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
– 1953 novel
Hugo nominations:
- "Star Light, Star BrightStar Light, Star Bright"Star Light, Star Bright" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 16339.-Lyrics:The lyrics usually conform to the following:-References in popular culture:...
" – 1954 short story (retro Hugo) - "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" – 1959 short story
- "The Pi Man" – 1960 short story
- "The Four-Hour FugueThe Four-Hour FugueThe Four-Hour Fugue is a short story by science fiction writer Alfred Bester. It was nominated for the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Short Story of the Year...
" – 1975 short story - The Computer ConnectionThe Computer ConnectionThe Computer Connection is a novel by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Originally published as a serial in Analog Science Fiction , it appeared in book form in 1975. Some editions give it the title Extro...
– 1976 novel
External links
- Alfred Bester's writing on CBS Radio Mystery Theater
- Alfred Bester Bibliography
- Contento bibliography
- Hugo Awards – Bester
- Locus Awards list – Bester
- Science Fiction Studies on Bester by Fiona KelleghanFiona KelleghanFiona Kelleghan is an American academic and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy; she is also the metadata librarian at the University of Miami's Otto G...