#Anthony Boucher

[gtetrahedron]

Other Worlds, Other Gods

finished "other worlds, other gods" a '71 short story collection focusing on religion in science fiction. lots of it is real pulpy, with only the slightest hints of new wave shining through (mostly via john brunner), but its some good pulp. not a long or heavy read, only a day or two.

most of the stories were from the late 50s and early 60s, with a few from the 40s and late 60s. highlights include lee suttons soul mate, john brunners the vitanuls, anthony bouchers the quest for saint aquin, and damon knights shall the dust praise thee. 

i would recommend it with the caveat that theres nothing super weird, unfortunately (which would be my main criticism). it mostly stuck to christianity (primarily catholicism!) and pastiches of such, with a few jewish cameos and one of hinduism and buddhism each. no alien religions, really. weirdest one was definitely soul mate. nothing ubik-level, lol.

side-note if any of my followers is more learned in hinduism: id be curious about your reading of the vitanuls; im not sure how accurate of a representation it is, being written by a brit, but it seems decent enough? i have very little knowledge of the religion, though, and am supremely unconfident saying that.

[ratlas-t-ratlas]

Shoutout to Dee at the county library who just helped me find the werewolf short story I've been trying to find again for over five years, you're a real one.

It was 'The Compleat Werewolf' by Anthony Boucher, coincidentally also free as part of project Gutenberg! It's so much goddamn fun. It's about Professor Wolfe Wolf who gets dumped by his girlfriend, gets drunk with a wizard who teaches him how to turn into a wolf, and spends the next few weeks trying to figure out how this will help him get his girlfriend back. Did I mention he solves crimes?

Anyway, read it right now! It's free! No one can stop you!

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/bouchera-compleatwerewolf/bouchera-compleatwerewolf-00-h.html

[veryslowreader]

A Treasury of Great Science Fiction

To the Stars

[bookmaven]

PILGRIMAGE: THE BOOK OF THE PEOPLE by Zenna Henderson (Garden City, Doubleday, 1961) Cover art by Mel Hunter. // (London: Gollancz, 1962)

PILGRIMAGE is a ‘fix-up novel’ of Henderson’s first six stories about The People, a society whose members control special psychic abilities. The stories premiered separately in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Anthony Boucher, and were later “refurbished” into the longer form.

“Ararat” — October, 1952

“Gilead” — August, 1954

“Pottage” — September, 1955

“Wilderness” — January 1957

“Captivity” — June, 1958

“Jordan” — March, 1959

“Wilderness”, January 1957. Cover by Paul Blaisdell. // “Captivity”, June 1958. Cover by Mel Hunter.

(New York: Avon, 1965) Cover by Neil Boyle. // (London: Panther, 1965) Cover by Michael Leonard. // (New York: Avon, 1965) Cover by Hector Garrido.

[thegothiclibrary]

Humorous Ghost Stories

Not every ghost story has to be terrifying! Indeed, horror and humor are surprisingly similar modes of writing—both depend on eliciting certain emotional reactions from the reader through carefully timed revelations and unexpected juxtapositions. Horror can all too easily give way into unintentional humor, as any connoisseur of schlocky B-movies can tell you. But that blurred line can also be…

[theamazingstories]

RETRO REVIEW –STAR SCIENCE FICTION #2 (1954)

Figure 1 Srar Science Fiction #2 Cover by John Berkey I had planned to review the British (Sky) science fiction series, The Lazarus Project, now about to enter Season 2, for this week; it’s pure SF with only a minimum of technobabble (just enough to enable the premise), but I think I’ll need to devote a lot of thought to how one can review a continuing series without entirely spoiling the whole…

[radiofreeskaro]

Radio Free Skaro #884 - Holiday Special Deathmatch

Radio Free Skaro #884 - Holiday Special Deathmatch - #DoctorWho trailer talk! - Holiday Special Deathmatch! - w/guests @HollyGoDarkly and @xanister!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/freyburg/rfs884.mp3 Download MP3 Happy Holidays all and especially a Happy Boxing Day to those in Canada and the UK. And quite a sock to the jaw it was to see a Doctor Who 60th anniversary trailer on Xmas Day! Still nothing new with Ncuti Gatwa’s incarnation of the Doctor but we do have more of Tennant’s Who the 14th, Donna Noble, and most importantly, Beep The Meep!…

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

taylor swift lyrics x colors x textiles in art – blue

Tim McGraw – Taylor Swift // Portrait of Marie-Joseph Peyre – Marie-Suzanne Giroust 💙 Tim McGraw – Taylor Swift // Lady in the Boudoir – Gustav Holweg-Glantschnigg 💙 A Place in This World – Taylor Swift // Portrait of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester – Jean-Étienne Liotard 💙 Dear John – Speak Now // Young Woman in a Blue Dress – Jacopo Negretti 💙 State of Grace – Red // Portrait of Mrs. Matthew Tilghman and her Daughter – John Hesselius 💙 Red – Red // An Unknown Man – Joseph Highmore 💙 All Too Well – Red // Portrait of a Man with a Quilted Sleeve – Titian 💙 Everything Has Changed – Red // Portrait of the Marquis de Saint-Paul – Jean-Baptiste Greuze 💙 Starlight – Red // Mrs. Richard Brown – John Hesselius 💙 Run – Red // Judith with the Head of Holofernes – Felice Ficherelli 💙 This Love – 1989 // Fair Rosamund – John William Waterhouse 💙 Delicate – Reputation // Miss Elizabeth Ingram – Joshua Reynolds 💙 Gorgeous – Reputation // Marguerite Hessein, Lady of Rambouillet de la Sablière – workshop of Henri and Charles Beaubrun 💙 Dancing with Our Hands Tied – Reputation // George Albert, Prince of East Frisia – Johann Conrad Eichler

Cruel Summer – Lover // Peter August Friedrich von Koskull – Michael Ludwig Claus 💙 Lover – Lover // Lady Oxenden – Joseph Wright of Derby 💙 Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince – Lover // Portrait of Ivan Ivanovich Betskoi – Alexander Roslin 💙 Paper Rings – Lover // Young Woman in a Blue Dress – Jacopo Negretti 💙 London Boy – Lover // Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson – Anthony van Dyck 💙 Afterglow – Lover // Portrait of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn – Fyodor Rokotov 💙 Christmas Tree Farm – Christmas Tree Farm // Portrait of Mary Ruthven, Lady van Dyck – Anthony van Dyck 💙 invisible string – folklore // Two Altar Wings with the Visitation of Mary – unknown artist 💙 invisible string – folklore // Portrait of Madame de Pompadour – François Boucher 💙 peace – folklore // Fair Rosamund – John William Waterhouse 💙 hoax – folklore // Portrait of Charles le Normant du Coudray – Jean-Baptiste Perronneau 💙 coney island – evermore // Portrait of the Marquis de Saint-Paul – Jean-Baptiste Greuze 💙 Carolina – Carolina // Mrs. Daniel Sargent – John Singleton Copley 💙 Bejeweled – Midnights // Elsa Elisabeth Brahe – David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl 💙 The Great War – Midnights // Portrait of Françoise Marie de Bourbon – attributed to François de Troy 💙 Hits Different – Midnights // Mrs. Benjamin Pickman – John Singleton Copley

[elegancepromos]

Interaction Call for the following starters:

Anthony Williams (Alfred Enoch FC): Anthony just proposed to his long-term girlfriend and was rejected. Your muse is the one who rejected him.

Harmony Jones (Janel Parrish FC): Harmony feels that her marriage is falling apart and she is ready to stop trying. Your muse is the estranged husband.

Garrett Walker (Elliot Fletcher FC): Garrett is reflecting upon the end of his marriage. Your muse is a close person to him.

Aaron Burke (Ben Levin FC): Aaron has recently started a new relationship but just ran into his ex for the first time. Your muse is his ex.

Isaac Boucher (Avan Jogia FC): Isaac is into casual hookups which he is always clear about. Your muse has caught feelings.

Lana Neves (Luisa D'Oliveira FC): Lana recently lost the love of her life and is now going on her first date in a long time. Your muse is trying to pump her up.

[nem0c]

Vietnam War - Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, June 1968

Sourced from: http://natsmusic.net/articles_galaxy_magazine_viet_nam_war.htm

Transcript Below

We the undersigned believe the United States must remain in Vietnam to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of that country.

Karen K. Anderson, Poul Anderson, Harry Bates, Lloyd Biggle Jr., J. F. Bone, Leigh Brackett, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mario Brand, R. Bretnor, Frederic Brown, Doris Pitkin Buck, William R. Burkett Jr., Elinor Busby, F. M. Busby, John W. Campbell, Louis Charbonneau, Hal Clement, Compton Crook, Hank Davis, L. Sprague de Camp, Charles V. de Vet, William B. Ellern, Richard H. Eney, T. R. Fehrenbach, R. C. FitzPatrick, Daniel F. Galouye, Raymond Z. Gallun, Robert M. Green Jr., Frances T. Hall, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Joe L. Hensley, Paul G. Herkart, Dean C. Ing, Jay Kay Klein, David A. Kyle, R. A. Lafferty, Robert J. Leman, C. C. MacApp, Robert Mason, D. M. Melton, Norman Metcalf, P. Schuyler Miller, Sam Moskowitz, John Myers Myers, Larry Niven, Alan Nourse, Stuart Palmer, Gerald W. Page, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Lawrence A. Perkins, Jerry E. Pournelle, Joe Poyer, E. Hoffmann Price, George W. Price, Alva Rogers, Fred Saberhagen, George O. Smith, W. E. Sprague, G. Harry Stine (Lee Correy), Dwight V. Swain, Thomas Burnett Swann, Albert Teichner, Theodore L. Thomas, Rena M. Vale, Jack Vance, Harl Vincent, Don Walsh Jr., Robert Moore Williams, Jack Williamson, Rosco E. Wright, Karl Würf.

We oppose the participation of the United States in the war in Vietnam.

Forrest J. Ackerman, Isaac Asimov, Peter S. Beagle, Jerome Bixby, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Lyle G. Boyd, Ray Bradbury, Jonathan Brand, Stuart J. Byrne, Terry Carr, Carroll J. Clem, Ed M. Clinton, Theodore R. Cogswell, Arthur Jean Cox, Allan Danzig, Jon DeCles, Miriam Allen deFord, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Thomas M. Disch, Sonya Dorman, Larry Eisenberg, Harlan Ellison, Carol Emshwiller, Philip José Farmer, David E. Fisher, Ron Goulart, Joseph Green, Jim Harmon, Harry Harrison, H. H. Hollis, J. Hunter Holly, James D. Houston, Edward Jesby, Leo P. Kelley, Daniel Keyes, Virginia Kidd, Damon Knight, Allen Lang, March Laumer, Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber, Irwin Lewis, A. M. Lightner, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Katherine MacLean, Barry Malzberg, Robert E. Margroff, Anne Marple, Ardrey Marshall, Bruce McAllister, Judith Merril, Robert P. Mills, Howard L. Morris, Kris Neville, Alexei Panshin, Emil Petaja, J. R. Pierce, Arthur Porges, Mack Reynolds, Gene Roddenberry, Joanna Russ, James Sallis, William Sambrot, Hans Stefan Santesson, J. W. Schutz, Robin Scott, Larry T. Shaw, John Shepley, T. L. Sherred, Robert Silverberg, Henry Slesar, Jerry Sohl, Norman Spinrad, Margaret St. Clair, Jacob Transue, Thurlow Weed, Kate Wilhelm, Richard Wilson, Donald A. Wollheim.

[bloodgulchblog]

Lmao so I finally started reading that old sf zine discussion from the 60s about Starship Troopers.

Anthony Boucher provided a reprint of a review he wrote.

Kill him, Tony.

Of note there is overall a great deal of concern about who is this book intended for? from multiple writers.

The book was listed both for adults and for 12 and up in the publisher's catalog sections.

Dean McLaughlin has a long letter from the following month and I'm still not done with him but he's off to a good start:

[cannedbluesblog]

"Adam Diment is a spy novelist who published four novels between 1967 and 1971. All four are about the adventures of Philip McAlpine whom critic Anthony Boucher described as "an agent who smokes hashish, leads a highly active sex life, kills vividly, uses (or even coins) the latest London slang and still seems a perfectly real (and even oddly likeable) young man rather than a reflected Bond image."

Diment disappeared from public view after his last novel, adding to his cult figure status among fans of 1960s spy novels. According to The Observer, by 1975 Diment was living in Zurich, shunning publicity, and had no plans to write further novels". Info from Wiki

[dirtyriver]

RIP Marijane Meaker aka Vin Packer (27 May 1927 - 21 November 2022)

From her obit in The Guardian:

Fan mail from a generation of closeted women flooded the offices of Gold Medal Books after the 1952 publication of Spring Fire – a novel about a lesbian affair among a college sisterhood – from unlikely fans of its author, Marijane Meaker, who has died aged 95.

Unlikely, not only because of the male pseudonym used by Meaker – Vin Packer – but also because its heroine is “saved” from the clutches of a nymphomanical lesbian seducer, who winds up committed to a psychiatric hospital. Although the men who wrote Gold Medal’s hard-boiled crime fiction specialised in exploitation, the daring Spring Fire sold 1.5m copies in its first edition.

Meaker was an editorial assistant at Gold Medal at the time, and a lesbian. “We were floored by the mail that poured in,” she said. “This was the first time anyone was aware there was a gay audience out there.” She was prompted to write, as Ann Aldrich, a series of pseudo-sociological studies of lesbians, starting with We Walk Alone Through Lesbos’ Lonely Groves (1955), which became a kind of Lonely Planet guide for women who had yet to come out.

She wrote 20 books as Packer, starting with a thriller, Dark Intruder (1952), and nearly 40 others under a variety of names, including her own. Packer’s psychological crime novels were praised by the New York Times reviewer Anthony Boucher, and drew favourable comparisons to Patricia Highsmith, who, also in 1952, published her own “serious” lesbian novel, The Price of Salt, using the pseudonym Claire Morgan.

In a case of life imitating art, Meaker and Highsmith became lovers, a relationship detailed in Meaker’s acute 2003 memoir, Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s.

[bookmaven]

JUDGEMENT NIGHT by C.L. Moore (New York: Gnome Press, ) Cover art by Frank Kelly Freas.

Astounding Science-Fiction v31 #6, August 1943 edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. Cover by William Timmins

JUDGEMENT NIGHT by C.L. Moore. Illustrated by A. Williams [Part 1 of 2]

“The Mutant’s Brother” by Fritz Leiber, Jr. Illustrated by F. Kramer

“One-Way Trip” by Anthony Boucher. Illustrated by Kolliker

“Endowment Policy” by Lewis Padgett. Illustrated by Hall

“M 33 in Andromeda” by A.E. van Vogt. Illustrated by A. Williams [Beagle]

“When Is When?” by Malcolm Jameson. Illustrated by F. Kramer [Anachron, Inc.]

(New York: Popular Library, 1965) Cover artist unknown. // [aka LA NUIT DU JUGEMENT] (Paris: J’ai Lu, 1966) Cover art by Wojtek Siudmak.

[oceannacaldin]

Les enfants endormis

Bon, ben c'est tôt pour un premier coup de cœur de l'année, mais je n'ai pas pu décroché du bouquin de toute l'après-midi, donc... Si vous cherchez un roman à la croisée entre l'Histoire et l'histoire familiale sur le VIH avec la vraie particularité que cette fois, l'histoire familiale est très à la marge des "incontournables" du récit du SIDA (l'oncle est héroïnomane, on est dans l'arrière pays niçois...), la suite est pour vous.

Résumé éditeur : Quarante ans après la mort de son oncle Désiré, Anthony Passeron décide d’interroger le passé familial. Évoquant l’ascension sociale de ses grands-parents devenus bouchers pendant les Trente Glorieuses, puis le fossé qui grandit entre eux et la génération de leurs enfants, il croise deux récits : celui de l’apparition du sida dans une famille de l’arrière-pays niçois – la sienne – et celui de la lutte contre la maladie dans les hôpitaux français et américains.

Si vous aviez le moindre doute, oui, c'est mieux de prévoir un truc réconfortant à la fin de la lecture. Mais après, pour tout ce que le roman contient d'émotionnel, Anthony Passeron a très bien réussi à éviter tout misérabilisme. Il fait souvent le choix d'être très descriptif, et ce qui reste de souffrance ou de jugement est souvent dans des formules très laconiques (j'ai le souvenir d'un "Une fois encore un temps précieux était cédé au déni" qui m'avait pris à la gorge dans le premier quart). Je pense que c'est très lié au fait que l'histoire médicale et familiale s'intercalent et n'appellent pas les mêmes émotions rendent le tout supportable à la lecture.

Je ne pensais pas autant adhérer à ce parallèle, j'avoue, parce que j'avais du mal à voir comment les deux pourraient s'entrelacer efficacement au début. Et finalement, ça ouvre quelque chose de très béant entre les deux (le passage de l'information, les espoirs de traitement, la compréhension de la maladie face aux clichés). J'ai beaucoup ressenti en creux combien cette histoire a du mal à être englobée dans l'histoire qu'on raconte du SIDA. Et combien cela rajoute encore un degré d'isolation pour cette famille.

Evidemment, le fait qu'on ait une histoire familiale à la base rajoute un élément très humain au milieu de tout cela. Anthony Passeron relate tout cela avec une vraie volonté de rendre tout ce qu'il y a encore d'émotions, de déni et de contradiction chez sa famille, et c'est - évidemment - toujours très poignant et ça sonne toujours très juste.

[ulkaralakbarova]

Carla Moran, a hard-working single mother, is raped in her bedroom by someone — or something — that she cannot see. Despite skeptical psychiatrists, she is repeatedly attacked by this invisible force. Could this be a case of hysteria or something more horrific? Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Carla Moran: Barbara Hershey Phil Sneiderman: Ron Silver Billy: David Labiosa Dr. Weber: George Coe Cindy Nash: Margaret Blye Dr. Cooley: Jacqueline Brookes Gene Kraft: Richard Brestoff George Nash: Michael Alldredge Joe Mehan: Raymond Singer Julie: Natasha Ryan Kim: Melanie Gaffin Jerry Anderson: Alex Rocco Mr. Reisz: Sully Boyar Woody Browne: Tom Stern Dr. Walcott: Allan Rich Film Crew: Director: Sidney J. Furie Screenplay: Frank De Felitta Producer: Harold Schneider Casting: Barbara Claman Editor: Frank J. Urioste Production Design: Charles Rosen Set Decoration: Jerry Wunderlich Hairstylist: Christine Lee Makeup Artist: Zoltan Elek Construction Coordinator: Bruce J. Gfeller Leadman: Nigel A. Boucher Set Designer: Daniel Gluck Set Designer: Boyd Willat Sound Effects Editor: Keith Stafford Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Gregg Landaker Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Steve Maslow Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Bill Varney Stunt Coordinator: Chris Howell Camera Operator: Joe R. Marquette Jr. Still Photographer: John R. Hamilton Gaffer: Jon Timothy Evans Costume Supervisor: Nancy McArdle Music Editor: Ken Wilhoit Script Supervisor: H. Bud Otto Studio Teachers: Arlene Singer-Gross Unit Publicist: Lyla Foggia Location Manager: Robert Eggenweiler Original Music Composer: Charles Bernstein Director of Photography: Stephen H. Burum Executive Producer: Michael Leone Executive Producer: Andrew Pfeffer Stand In: Marcia Karr Property Master: Barry Bedig Sound Mixer: Willie D. Burton Special Effects Makeup Artist: James Kagel Special Effects Makeup Artist: Stan Winston Production Manager: David Salven Second Assistant Director: William Cosentino Assistant Property Master: Gene Anderson Leadman: Frank L. Brown Construction Foreman: Richard Eckols Painter: Anthony ‘AJ’ Leonardi Jr. Paint Coordinator: John Tyrrell Propmaker: Mark Sparks Cableman: Robert W. Harris Boom Operator: Marvin E. Lewis Special Effects: Martin Bresin Special Effects: Joe Digaetano Special Effects: Joe Lombardi Special Effects: Steve Lombardi Special Effects: Gary Monak Special Effects: Robert G. Willard Special Effects Makeup Artist: Jill Rockow Visual Effects Designer: William Cruse Visual Effects Camera: Sam DiMaggio Visual Effects Production Assistant: Margaret Goldsmith Visual Effects Production Assistant: Julie Kelly Visual Effects Production Assistant: Kim Waugh Stunts: John Ashby Stunts: Janet Brady Stunts: Ron Burke Stunts: William H. Burton Sr. Stunts: Eddy Donno Stunts: Kenny Endoso Stunts: Donna Garrett Stunts: Buddy Joe Hooker Stunts: Shawn Howell Stunts: Tommy J. Huff Stunts: Linda Jacobs Stunts: Gary McLarty Stunts: Ernie F. Orsatti Stunts: Harry Wowchuk Grip: Leon Ayres Grip: Ben Beaird First Assistant Director: Tommy Thompson Movie Reviews: John Chard: Very up and down in its telling of an horrendous story. This is the loosely based on facts story of Carla Moran, a woman who was allegedly tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon. Regardless of if the facts of the case are fictionalised for impact, or if indeed there is any basis of truth to the attacks in question, The Entity as a film fails to rise above average due to sloppy direction and a very poor script, whilst the score from Charles Bernstein is akin to being hit over the head repeatedly with a blunt instrument. That said, the film isn’t a total wash out, there are genuine moments of dread in the piece, and most of the tension and fear is realised from a very credible performance from Barbara Hershey as Carla. The nature of the beast with this type of picture will always be open to either scoffing or a fear of the unknown, so to get the audience involved with a topic like this you really need your protagonist to be believable, Hershey manages to do this in spite of the character bei...