Untouched by Human Hands
Encyclopedia
Untouched by Human Hands is a collection of science fiction
short stories
by Robert Sheckley
. It was first published in 1954 by Ballantine Books
(catalogue number 73). It includes the following stories (magazines in which the stories originally appeared given in parentheses):
Critic Groff Conklin
reviewed the collection for Galaxy Science Fiction in 1954; although generally favorable, the review claimed that Sheckley was "still trying to discover his own particular bent" and that he "hasn't quite found his footing." Sheckley himself, according to a 1980 interview, was aware of the extreme stylistic diversity of the collection and the fact that some stories were not science fiction in the usual sense of the word:
The collection received positive reviews. Writing in The New York Times
, Villiers Gerson wrote that Sheckley was "a writer not quire like any other [whose] forte is his own brand of strange and wonderful humor."Boucher
and McComas
found it "as brightly individual and entrancing a group of science-fantasies as we've seen in some time." P. Schuyler Miller
compared Sheckley to Ray Bradbury
, citing his "fresh point of view", his "wry distortions of the familiar", and his "touch of the same poetry." Science fiction historian Michael Ashley, in his 2005 volume on the history of science fiction magazines, praised Sheckley's early work, including "Untouched by Human Hands", for the "sheer lack of sophistication—his ability to run circles around the establishment. [...] Sheckley's work highlights the fact that man's worst enemy is himself."
The collection was reprinted several times by different publishers. In 1965 the story "Seventh Victim" was adapted into The 10th Victim
, an Italian film starring Marcello Mastroianni
and Ursula Andress
, also known as La decima vittima. Sheckley wrote a novelization of the film in 1966 ("The Tenth Victim"), and, in late 1980s, two more novels set in the same world.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.Sheckley was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and...
. It was first published in 1954 by Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
(catalogue number 73). It includes the following stories (magazines in which the stories originally appeared given in parentheses):
- "The Monsters" (F&SFThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
1953/3) - "Cost of Living" (GalaxyGalaxy Science FictionGalaxy 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...
1952/12) - "The Altar" (FantasticFantastic (magazine)Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease...
1953/7&8) - "Keep Your Shape" (Galaxy 1953/11; also known as "Shape")
- "The Impacted Man" (AstoundingAnalog Science Fiction and FactAnalog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
1952/12) - "Untouched by Human Hands" (Galaxy 1953/12; also known as "One Man's Poison")
- "The King's Wishes" (F&SF 1953/7)
- "Warm" (Galaxy 1953/6)
- "The Demons" (Fantasy Magazine 1953/3)
- "SpecialistSpecialist (short story)"Specialist" is a science fiction short story by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in 1953 and has appeared in various collections, including Untouched by Human Hands and The Golden Age of Science Fiction , edited by Kingsley Amis in 1981.-Plot:A galactic deep-space cargo ship is blown off...
" (Galaxy 1953/5) - "Seventh Victim" (Galaxy 1953/4)
- "Ritual" (Climax 1953; also known as "Strange Ritual")
- "Beside Still Waters" (AmazingAmazing StoriesAmazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
1953/10&11)
Critic Groff Conklin
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
reviewed the collection for Galaxy Science Fiction in 1954; although generally favorable, the review claimed that Sheckley was "still trying to discover his own particular bent" and that he "hasn't quite found his footing." Sheckley himself, according to a 1980 interview, was aware of the extreme stylistic diversity of the collection and the fact that some stories were not science fiction in the usual sense of the word:
I felt I wasn't really writing science fiction. I was in some way writing a commentary on science fiction, and this sometimes made me feel, a little sadly, that I was not really into it.
The collection received positive reviews. Writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Villiers Gerson wrote that Sheckley was "a writer not quire like any other [whose] forte is his own brand of strange and wonderful humor."Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
and McComas
J. Francis McComas
Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....
found it "as brightly individual and entrancing a group of science-fantasies as we've seen in some time." P. Schuyler Miller
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
compared Sheckley to Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray 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...
, citing his "fresh point of view", his "wry distortions of the familiar", and his "touch of the same poetry." Science fiction historian Michael Ashley, in his 2005 volume on the history of science fiction magazines, praised Sheckley's early work, including "Untouched by Human Hands", for the "sheer lack of sophistication—his ability to run circles around the establishment. [...] Sheckley's work highlights the fact that man's worst enemy is himself."
The collection was reprinted several times by different publishers. In 1965 the story "Seventh Victim" was adapted into The 10th Victim
The 10th Victim
The 10th Victim is a 1965 Italian/French international co-production science fiction film directed by Elio Petri. It is based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story "Seventh Victim". Sheckley later published a novelization of the film in 1966.-Plot:...
, an Italian film starring Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
and Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress is a Swiss actress and a sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr...
, also known as La decima vittima. Sheckley wrote a novelization of the film in 1966 ("The Tenth Victim"), and, in late 1980s, two more novels set in the same world.