Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer | |
---|---|
Born | North Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. | January 26, 1918
Died | February 25, 2009 Peoria, Illinois, U.S. | (aged 91)
Pen name | more than a dozen[1] (below) |
Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
Alma mater | Peoria High School Bradley University |
Period | c. 1952–2009 |
Genre | Fantasy, science fiction |
Spouse |
Bette V. Andre (m. 1941) |
Children | 2 |
Website | |
www |
Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and
Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the
Literary critic Leslie Fiedler compared Farmer to Ray Bradbury, describing both as "provincial American eccentrics" who "strain at the classic limits of the [science fiction] form," but found Farmer distinctive for his capacity "to be at once naive and sophisticated in his odd blending of theology, pornography, and adventure."[3]
Biography
Youth and education
Farmer was born in North Terre Haute, Indiana. His parents gave him the middle name "Josie", from his paternal grandmother Josephine, but Farmer later changed it himself to “José” as he resented the woman's name and wanted to lend color to an otherwise rather drab name.[4][5] Farmer grew up in Peoria, Illinois, where he attended Peoria High School. His father was a civil engineer and a supervisor for the local power company. A voracious reader as a boy, Farmer said he resolved to become a writer in the fourth grade. He underwent basic religious training in the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) as a child, which he later characterized as a "peculiar background" for a science fiction writer.[6] He became an agnostic at the age of 14, and ultimately an atheist, though not, he said, indifferent to religion. At age 23, in 1941, he married Bette V. Andre and eventually fathered a son and a daughter. After washing out of flight training in World War II, he went to work in a local steel mill. He later continued his education, however, earning a bachelor's degree in English from Bradley University in 1950[7] at the age of 32.
Early career
Farmer had his first literary success when his novella
Farmer won a second Hugo award in 1968, in the category Best Novella, for
A 1975 novel, Venus on the Half-Shell, created a stir in the larger literary community and media. It purported to be written in the first person by one "Kilgore Trout," a fictional character appearing as an underappreciated science fiction writer in several of Kurt Vonnegut's novels. The escapade did not please Vonnegut when some reviewers not only concluded that it had been written by Vonnegut himself, but that it was a worthy addition to his works. Farmer did have permission from Vonnegut to write the book, although Vonnegut later said he regretted giving permission.[11]
Later years
Farmer had both critical champions and detractors. Leslie Fiedler proclaimed him "the greatest science fiction writer ever"[12] and lauded his approach to storytelling as a "gargantuan lust to swallow down the whole cosmos, past, present and to come, and to spew it out again."[13] Isaac Asimov praised Farmer as an "excellent science fiction writer; in fact, a far more skillful writer than I am...."[14] But Christopher Lehmann-Haupt dismissed him in The New York Times in 1972 as "a humdrum toiler in the fields of science fiction."[7]
In 2001 Farmer won the
Farmer's output slowed, but he continued to be active, publishing one novel and co-authoring three others (as well as producing about 20 short stories) in his last decade. He died on February 25, 2009.[2][16] He was survived by his wife Bette, two children, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.[17]
Novel sequences
Riverworld series
The Riverworld series follows the adventures of such diverse characters as
The first two Riverworld books were originally published as novellas, "The Day of the Great Shout" and "The Suicide Express," and as a two-part serial, "The Felled Star," in the science fiction magazines Worlds of Tomorrow and If between 1965 and 1967. The separate novelette "Riverworld" ran in Worlds of Tomorrow in January 1966. A final pair of linked novelettes appeared in the 1990s: "Crossing the Dark River" (in Tales of Riverworld, 1992) and "Up the Bright River" (in Quest to Riverworld, 1993). Farmer introduced himself into the series as Peter Jairus Frigate (PJF).
The Riverworld series originated in a novel, Owe for the Flesh, written in one month in 1952 as a contest entry. It won the contest, but the book was left unpublished and orphaned when the prize money was misappropriated, and Farmer nearly gave up writing altogether.[18] The original manuscript of the novel was lost, but years later Farmer reworked the material into the Riverworld magazine stories mentioned above. Eventually, a copy of a revised version of the original novel surfaced in a box in a garage and was published as River of Eternity by Phantasia Press in 1983. Farmer's introduction to this edition gives the details of how it all happened.[18]
World of Tiers series
The series is set within a number of artificially constructed
Literary themes
Sexuality
Farmer's work often handles sexual themes; some early works were notable for their ground-breaking introduction of such material to popular science fiction literature.
The short story collection Strange Relations (1960) was a notable event in the genre.
Religion
Farmer's fiction frequently included religious themes; he once went so far as to muse that "religion is the earliest form of science fiction".[26] Raised in the Christian Science church, he lost his religious faith in early youth. Nevertheless, he eventually found that he was not truly indifferent to religion, but was "powerfully attracted by the Roman Catholic faith". Immortality, the afterlife and soteriology were particular theological concerns for him. "The brain, knowing that a person can't live forever in this world, rationalizes a future, or other-dimensional, world in which immortality is possible.... For me, only those stories concerned with this one vital issue are serious stories. All others, no matter how moving or profound, are mere entertainments. They do not deal with that which is our gravest concern. Without a belief in eternal life for us, the terrestrial existence is something to be gotten through with as little pain and as much pleasure as possible. If this conclusion is the triumph of irrationality over logic, so be it."[27]
In his groundbreaking novella
Pulp heroes
Many of Farmer's works rework existing characters from fiction and history,[2] as in The Wind Whales of Ishmael (1971), a far-future sequel to
He has often written about the
In his incomplete historical Khokarsa cycle — Hadon of Ancient Opar (1974) and Flight to Opar (1976) — Farmer portrayed the "lost city" of Opar, which plays an important part in the Tarzan saga, in the time of its glory as a colony city of the empire of Khokarsa. One of the books mentions a mysterious grey-eyed traveller, clearly "Sahhindar"/Tarzan.
Pseudonyms
Farmer wrote Venus on the Half-Shell (1975) under the name Kilgore Trout, a fictional author who appears in the works of Kurt Vonnegut. He had planned to write more of Trout's fictional books (notably Son of Jimmy Valentine), but Vonnegut put an end to those plans.[28] Farmer's use of the pseudonym had caused confusion among many readers, who for some time assumed that Vonnegut was behind it; when the truth of Venus on the Half-Shell's authorship came out, Vonnegut was reported as being "not amused." In an issue of the semi-prozine The Alien Critic/Science Fiction Review, published by Richard E. Geis, Farmer claimed to have received an angry, obscenity-laden telephone call from Vonnegut about it. Thereafter Farmer wrote a number of pseudonymous "fictional author" stories, mostly for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. These were stories whose "authors" are characters in other stories. The first such story was "by" Jonathan Swift Somers III (invented by Farmer himself in Venus on the Half-Shell but inspired by one of the dead voices of Spoon River Anthology). Later Farmer used the "Cordwainer Bird" byline, a pseudonym invented by Harlan Ellison for film and television projects from which he wished to disassociate himself, and perhaps related to the name Cordwainer Smith, a pseudonym used by Paul Linebarger.
Awards and honors
- Awards[9]
- 1953: Hugo Award for Best New SF Author or Artist, The Lovers
- 1968: Hugo Award for Best Novella, Riders of the Purple Wage
- 1972: Hugo Award for Best Novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go[29]
- 2000: Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, lifetime achievement in fantasy and SF[15]
- 2001: World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement[30]
- 2003: Forry Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society[31]
- Runners-up, etc[9]
- 1960: Hugo Award for Best Short Story, "The Alley Man"
- 1961: Hugo Award for Best Short Story, "Open to Me, My Sister"
- 1966: Hugo Award for Best Short Story, "The Day of the Great Shout"
- 1967: Nebula Award for Best Novella, Riders of the Purple Wage
- 1972: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, To Your Scattered Bodies Go[29]
- 1974: Nebula Award for Best Short Story, "After King Kong Fell"
Bibliography
In a writing career spanning more than 60 years (1946–2008), Farmer published almost 60 novels, over 100 short stories and novellas (many expanded or combined into novels), two "fictional biographies" and numerous essays, articles and ephemera in fan publications.
See also
- Dungeon series
- Riverworld (2003 film)
- Riverworld (2010 film)
- Wold Newton family
Citations
- ^ a b Philip José Farmer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-04-05.
- ^ a b c "Philip José Farmer". Obituaries. The Daily Telegraph. London. March 4, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012. Obituary.
- Dell Publishing Company, pg 120.
- ^ Moskowitz, Sam (1965), Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction; Hyperion, pg 399.
- ^ The reminiscence of colleague Frederik Pohl, that his middle name was in honor of an aunt, is mistaken on this point. Pohl, Frederik (February 28, 2009), "Josie!" The Way the Future Blogs.
- ^ Farmer, Philip José (1977), "Religion and Myths" in The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction; Reprinted in Farmer, Philip José (2006; edited by Paul Spiteri), Pearls from Peoria, Subterranean Press, pp 719-720.
- ^ a b c Jonas, Gerald (February 26, 2009). "Philip José Farmer, Daring Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 91". The New York Times.
- ^ Carlson, Michael (February 27, 2009). "Obituary: Philip José Farmer". the Guardian.
- ^ a b c d e
"Farmer, Philip Jose". The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
- St. Martin's Griffin, pp 417–419.
- ^ Chapman, Edgar, The Magic Labyrinth of Philip Jose Farmer, Borgo Press, 1984. Pps. 64-6.
- Time, July 28.
- Daw Books, Inc, pp 233–239.)
- ^ I, Asimov. Isaac Asimov. Bantam Books. p. 504. 1994.
- ^ a b "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master" Archived July 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Retrieved 2013-04-05.
- ^ "The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page - Home". www.pjfarmer.com.
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (March 4, 2009). "Philip Jose Farmer dies at 91; acclaimed science fiction writer". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Farmer 1983: Author's Introduction
- ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (February 25, 2009). "R.I.P. Philip José Farmer". io9. Gizmodo.
- ^ "A Conversation With Roger Zelazny 8th April, 1978". Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Clute 1993
- ^ Merrick 2003
- ^ Moskowitz (1965), Op. cit., pg 403.
- ^ Carey 2007
- ^ Heinlein 1991
- ^ Farmer (1977), Op. cit.
- ^ Farmer (1977), Op. cit.
- ^ Trout Archived December 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "1972 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
- ^ World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ^ "The Official Philip Jose Farmer Home Page - Awards". Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
General and cited sources
- Brizzi, Mary (ISBN 0-916732-05-3, 1981.
- Carey, Christopher Paul. "The Grand Master of Peoria: Philip José Farmer's Immortal Legacy". The Zone. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
- ISBN 0-932096-28-X.
- ISBN 0-399-13586-3.
- Merrick, Helen (2003). ISBN 0-521-81626-2.
- The Official Philip José Farmer Home Page
External links
- The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page
- Farmer, Philip Jose at Curlie
- P. J. Farmer at SciFiWorld
- Philip José Farmer International Bibliography
- An Expansion of Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton Universe
- Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip José Farmer
- Philip José Farmer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Philip José Farmer at the Internet Book List
- Philip José Farmer at Find a Grave
- "Yesterday's Tomorrows: Philip José Farmer" by Graham Sleight
- Philip Jose Farmer papers at the American Heritage Center
- Works by Philip José Farmer at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Philip José Farmer at Internet Archive
- Works by Philip José Farmer at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)