Friday, August 27, 2010

Detour To Otherness



Ed here: As regular readers of this blog know, one of my favorite writers is the late Henry Kuttner. And of course you can't mention Henry without mentioning his wife and writing partner (Catherine) C.L. Moore. Good as they were individually they were great as a team. In his fine introduction to this volume Robert Silverberg relates a story that shows just how indivisible they were. For lovers of science fiction, fantasy and the type of story only the Kuttners wrote, this is one of the most important books of the year, a large, beautifully made book that celebrates the writers who had such direct influence on the careers of writers such as Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson, to name just a few. As usual congratulations to publisher Stephen Haffner
for producing a masterful book.

Detour to Otherness
Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore
introduction by Robert Silverberg
Afterword by Frederik Pohl
Cover art by Richard Powers
ISBN 9781893887183
$40.00
588 pages Hardcover


Description
In 1961, Ballantine Books published Bypass to Otherness, a paperback collection of some of Henry Kuttner's (and C. L. Moore's) best short stories. Several selections were drawn from Kuttner's popular series such as the "Hogbens" (comedic otherworldly hillbillies living in America), "Gallegher Galloway" (scientist who invents technical marvels only when intoxicated), and the "Baldies" stories eventually collected in Mutant. Bypass was projected as the first of three "Otherness" collections of Kuttner's short fiction. Return to Otherness followed in 1962 with 8 more stories. And then . . . nothing. The third "Otherness" collection never appeared. Now, almost fifty years later, Haffner Press announces DETOUR TO OTHERNESS: a massive hardcover assembling the contents of both Bypass to Otherness and Return to Otherness, and adding 8 additional stories selected for their scarcity, quality, and sheer entertainment value. Grand Masters Robert Silverberg and Frederik Pohl provide introductory and afterword materials to the book, and the whole affair is decorated with an unpublished painting by Richard Powers.

Table of Contents
Reviews
Excerpts

Related Books
Terror in the House

Table of Contents
Introduction by Robert Silverberg
Bypass to Otherness
Cold War
Call Him Demon
The Dark Angel
The Piper's Son
Absalom
The Little Things
Nothing but Gingerbread Left
Housing Problem
Return to Otherness
See You Later
This Is the House
The Proud Robot
Gallegher Plus
The Ego Machine
Android
The Sky Is Falling
Juke-Box
Detour to Otherness
Open Secret
All Is Illusion
Rite of Passage
Baby Face
Happy Ending
The Children's Hour
Dream's End
Near Miss
Afterword by Frederik Pohl

HAFFNER PRESS
5005 Crooks Road • Suite 35
Royal Oak, MI 48073-1239
ph: 248-288-4765
info@haffnerpress.com

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