The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories

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The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories

Miles J. Breuer
Edited and with an introduction by Michael R. Page

Bison Frontiers of Imagination Series

472 pages
4 figures

Paperback

October 2008

978-0-8032-1587-0

$21.95 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

October 2008

978-0-8032-1931-1

$21.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

Gathered here for the first time are Miles J. Breuer’s first publication, “The Man with the Strange Head”; his neglected dystopian novel Paradise and Iron (appearing here in book form for the first time); stories such as “Gostak and the Doshes” and “Mechanocracy”; and Breuer’s essay “The Future of Scientifiction,” one of the early critical statements of the genre. Also included are some of the author’s letters from the Discussions column of Amazing Stories.
 
Much of what we know as science fiction saw the light—and found its themes, styles, and modes—in the science fiction magazines of the early twentieth century. It was in these magazines of the 1920s and 1930s that Breuer often led the way. Breuer himself found his inspiration in the work of H. G. Wells and in turn influenced science fiction masters from Jack Williamson to Robert A. Heinlein. The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories collects the best work of this pioneer of the genre.

Author Bio

Miles J. Breuer (1889–1945) was a prominent physician in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a pioneer writer of science fiction for magazines in the 1920s and 1930s. Michael R. Page received his PhD in English from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He teaches courses in nineteenth-century British literature and in science fiction and his work has appeared in scholarly journals.

Praise

“I have a great admiration for the writing pioneers who opened the territory for the rest of us, and Miles J. Breuer was one of the most important. I’ll always think of him along with Jack Williamson, who welcomed me into the group and collaborated with me, as Breuer collaborated with him. As Heinlein urged, ‘Pay it forward.’ But we also have to pay it back.”—James Gunn, author of The Listeners

“I’m happy to see Breuer rediscovered. He was a pioneer of American science fiction.”—the late Jack Williamson, author of  The Humanoids

"If, like a Breuer character, Breuer could journey forward to see this collection, he would have been pleased."—Ed Park, Los Angeles Times Book Review

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

 

Introduction

 

The Man with the Strange Head

Amazing Stories, January 1927

 

The Appendix and the Spectacles

Amazing Stories, December 1928

 

The Gostak and the Doshes

Amazing Stories, March 1930

 

Paradise and Iron

Amazing Stories Quarterly, Summer 1930

 

A Problem in Communication

Astounding Stories, September 1930

 

On Board the Martian Liner

Amazing Stories, March 1931

 

Mechanocracy

Amazing Stories, April 1932

 

The Finger of the Past

Amazing Stories, November 1932

 

Millions for Defense

Amazing Stories, March 1935

 

Mars Colonizes

Marvel Tales, Summer 1935

 

The Oversight

Comet Stories, December 1940

 

Appendix 1: The Future of Scientifiction

Amazing Stories Quarterly, Summer 1929

 

Appendix 2: Selected Letters

 

Source Acknowledgments

 

Breuer's Science Fiction

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