Page's 'Frederik Pohl' examines the science fiction master's life and writing

Lecturer Michael Page’s new book, Frederik Pohl, is now available from the University of Illinois Press as part of the Modern Masters of Science Fiction series. Page’s book is the first to assess the full-scope of Pohl’s extraordinary seven decades in the field of science fiction as writer, editor, agent, and fan. As Page writes in the introduction: “The title of Frederik Pohl’s final novel, All the Lives He Led, published in 2011 when he was ninety-one years old, appropriately describes the life and career of its author. No other writer in the field of science fiction can match Frederik Pohl’s life in science fiction…No one, not even Pohl’s collaborator and friend Jack Williamson, had such a long association with science fiction. And very few, if any, can claim to have had an impact on the field, in all its facets, that matches Frederik Pohl’s.”

Page’s study traces Pohl’s life in science fiction from his youthful encounters with the fledging magazines in the early 1930s, his centrality to the creation of science fiction fandom in the mid-1930s, his pivotal agenting career after World War II where he played a major role in making science fiction a viable commercial publishing category, his stints as editor for which Gardner Dozois has proclaimed Pohl as “quite probably the best SF magazine editor who ever lived,” and Pohl’s extraordinary writing career as author of such seminal classics as The Space Merchants and Gladiator-At-Law (both co-authored with C.M. Kornbluth), “The Midas Plague,” Man Plus, Gateway, Jem, his autobiography The Way the Future Was and of over seventy novels and short story collections. Page weaves together biography, cultural history, and textual analysis in an engaging narrative of interest to scholars and general readers alike.

Page’s Frederik Pohl has received high praise from a number of Pohl’s most illustrious colleagues in the science fiction field:

“Frederik Pohl – writer, editor, critic, literary agent, futurist, teacher – was one of the central figures of twentieth-century American science fiction, playing an extraordinarily influential role for more than fifty years. This is a splendid overview of his long and remarkable career.”
- Robert Silverberg, author of Dying Inside and Lord Valentine's Castle

“An up-and-coming scholar has done a through and insightful job of analyzing the life and impact on science fiction of the iconic master whose career covered every aspect of science fiction of our times.”
- James E. Gunn, author of The Listeners and The Immortals

“Frederik Pohl did more than any other human to transform the very character of science fiction literature, from adventure-story roots into a tool for exploring plausible tomorrows. Other giants are known for their own great works. But, as this stirring and detailed biography shows, Fred Pohl taught us to be more than just storytellers. Science fiction became the R & D department for human destiny.”
David Brin, author of the Uplift series and The Transparent Society

“Frederik Pohl was one of science fiction’s most intelligent and creative writers. His consistent talent and brilliance helped define our field from the 1950s well into the twenty-first century. Michael R. Page’s book is a fascinating inspection of the man and his career. Highly recommended.”
- Greg Bear, author of Blood Music and Darwin's Radio