Silverberg
Robert other spaces, other times
A life spent in the future
OTHER SPACES, OTHER TIMES
A life spent in the future Robert Silverberg
Nonstop Press • New York
OTHER SPACES, OTHER TIMES A LIFE SPENT IN THE FUTURE
First edition Copyright ©2009 Agberg, Ltd. Silverberg Bibliography ©2009 Nonstop Press
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ISBN-13 Cloth 978-1-933065-12-0 ISBN-13 ebook 978-1-933065-13-7 Printed in S. Korea
contents
introduction
One:
two:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . beginnings 7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . on writing sf 37
three: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . autobiography 96
four:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . miscellany of a life 149
five: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . silverberg bibliography 170
list of illustrations
Index
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
4
introduction B Y R O B E R T S I LV E R B E R G
Nietzsche once wrote,“My memory says I did this, my pride says I did not. My memory yields.”That’s sufficient warning, as though we needed it, that the autobiographies of writers are not to be trusted as factual documents. Writers of fiction make stuff up.That’s what the word “fiction” means — it’s derived from the Latin verb fingere, which means “to imagine,”“to invent,”“to fabricate.” Out of fingere comes the noun fictum, meaning “that which is invented,” and out of fictum comes our English word “fiction.” Those two Latin words have some secondary meanings that are of some relevance here. Fingere also means “to arrange,” “to put in order.” And fictum can mean “a lie.” You see where I’m heading here. The fiction-writer makes things up, and also puts the things he has invented