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Robert Sheckley was a master of dark and funny science fiction

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Robert Sheckley, “What Do People Do?” He is the author of classic stories. and “Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?”, was one of the best science fiction authors of the 1950s. Humorous writer Tom manages it He had been in contact with Sheckley for almost a decade.

“He was very open to talking to me, to anyone who liked him, and to answering my questions about writing and his work,” Gerencer says in section 475. Guide to the Geek Galaxy podcast. “He was not only an amazing man, an amazing talent, but also a nice and kind person.”

Sheckley’s bunch of cynical marks helped pave the way for writers and his novels like Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison and JG Ballard. The dimension of miracles and Risk reward prefigured classical genres such as Hitchhiker’s Galaxy Guide and The Running Man.

“A lot of his ideas are very wise,” Gerencer says. “He was extrapolating, basically looking at the problems and saying, ‘Well, if that continues in that direction, it’ll be like that in another 50 years.’ Look and say, ‘Yeah, we’re getting closer to that now. It’s worse that way now.’ , I think they are classics like that. “

Sheckley is often remembered as a talent that dwindled over the years as a writer, but Gerencer believes that reality is more complicated, and that Sheckley has never lost his skill for funny science fiction. “I don’t think he couldn’t do things like that later, I thought he didn’t want to,” Gerencer says. “He found it kind of frivolous, and he wanted to write about things that were important to a man in his 70s, which are not the same things that are important to a man in his 20s or 30s” old, and these things unfortunately don’t matter so much to science fiction readers things that belong to them “.

Sheckley’s work has undergone a minor renaissance in recent years. Many of his best stories are collected in the 2012 book World store, Edited by Jonathan Lethem and Alex Abramovich, and on audio book version of The dimension of miracles It was released in 2013, read by John Hodgman. Gerencer says Sheckley was a constantly invented writer, and that anything he wrote is worth reading.

“I read somewhere that he has written more than 400 stories, and I feel like I’ve read and loved maybe 150 of them,” Gerencer says. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, are there 250 more out there?’ I’d like to get to know everyone else. “

Listen to the full interview with Tom Gerence in section 475 Guide to the Geek Galaxy (above). And see some notable points in the discussion below.

Discovering Tom Gerencer Robert Sheckley:

“Being a fan of Douglas Adams, I read a few snippets of conversation with him; I think it was in Neil Gaiman’s book Don’t panic, Which has some interviews with Douglas Adams. But there, he asks Douglas Adams about Robert Sheckley – this is a discussion about “people said you copied Robert Sheckley,” and Douglas Adams says, “Well, I never read his stuff, but when I did, “Wow, it’s like my stuff.” And so I was like, ‘Oh, like Douglas Adams? Let’s see.’ I used to walk into old bookstores all the time, and I just looked at the science fiction section, and Robert I found a collection of Sheckley stories and I liked them, and I’ve always been looking for more since then. ”

Tom Gerencer joined Robert Sheckley:

“In 1998 I was like, ‘I’ll see if this guy is still around. I know his stories were written in the’ 50s and ’60s, but I want to see if he’s still around.’ So I searched ‘Google Sheckley’s email’ on Google and emailed one appeared – aol.com address – so I sent him an email … I created a conversation with him, which lasted for many years, and I asked him, ‘Hey, can we ever collaborate on a short story?’ And he said, yes, he was going to be happy.And he grew and grew and grew.We went on and on with notes, and it became a novel, and at one point it became absolutely perfect for both of us.I don’t know if I was a good enough writer, and also I think he had a crisis of faith with himself, where he thought, ‘I don’t know if I can do this job.’ We left there, and tragically, I think it was in 2005, he died. It was very sad. “

About the fame of Tom Gerencer Robert Sheckley:

“In other countries — Russia, Italy, all over Europe, China, all over the world, outside the U.S. — he was undergoing that revival of his work, I think it’s starting to happen here now, maybe. I’m starting to feel him, and I have more strength for him – if anyone deserves it, it’s him. It’s great. But then he would say to me, ‘I’m traveling to Venice. It’s the holidays, but I’ll talk about my stories. I’m interviewing this person in Italy, I’m traveling to Russia on a book tour. ” … And he loved it, you know, I think he was eating. He said, ‘It’s very pretty. I didn’t expect that to happen, but it’s fun. ‘ That was happening to him, and I was really happy because it was happening. “

About Tom Gerencer Writers and Alcohol:

“I don’t know where that stereotype came from, but it’s very unfortunate, because it’s not true that you have to experience pain before you write. Calm down, life will hurt you a lot, you don’t have to go outside looking for a bottle. But I thought as a child. I remember Scottish bottles. I bought them and told them I’m a writer. I have to take a bottle of Scotch in my house. “And then, thank God, I stopped and walked away. Now that I’m older and I know successful authors, they don’t do that … They are the ones who are disciplined, and those who understand that this stereotype is just a stereotype, I think they end up doing it. “


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