All the Lives He Led

Abstract

This book chronicles the work of Frederik Pohl, one of the leading figures in the field of science fiction (SF). Pohl's literary output spans nine decades from his poem “Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna,” published in 1937, to his final book, All the Lives He Led, and The Way the Future Blogs. In between he wrote novels, short stories, story collections, and nonfiction books; edited anthologies and SF magazine issues; and wrote countless essays, editorials, and reviews. The book examines how Pohl's publishing activity and his work as a literary agent in the late 1940s and early 1950s shaped the SF field. It also considers the role played by Pohl in the development of SF as a more or less respectable area of academic study and in the creation and development of SF fandom.