Fredric Brown (October 29, 1906 – March 11, 1972
[) was an American ]science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
, fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
, and mystery writer.[D. J. McReynolds, "The Short Fiction of Fredric Brown" in Frank N. Magill, (ed.) ''Survey of Science Fiction Literature'', Vol. 4. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1979. (pp. 1954–1957). ]
He is known for his use of humor and for his mastery of the " short short" form—stories of 1 to 3 pages, often with ingenious plotting devices and surprise endings. Humor and a postmodern outlook carried over into his novels as well. One of his stories, "Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...
", was adapted to a 1967 episode of the American television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
''Star Trek''.
According to his wife, Fredric Brown hated to write. So he did everything he could to avoid it. He'd play his flute, challenge a friend to a game of chess, or tease Ming Tah, his Siamese cat. If Brown had trouble working out a certain story, he would hop on a long bus trip and just sit and think and plot for days on end. When Brown finally returned home and sat himself in front of the typewriter, he produced work in a variety of genres: mystery, science fiction, short fantasy, black comedy–and sometimes, all of the above.
Works
Brown was born in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
.[Introduction to ''Rogue in Space'']
Italian edition, ''Urania Collezione'' n. 135, by Giuseppe Lippi He began to sell mystery short stories to American magazines in 1936.[ His first science fiction story, "Not Yet the End", was published in the Winter 1941 issue of ''Captain Future'' magazine.]
His science fiction novel ''What Mad Universe
''What Mad Universe'' is a science fiction novel, written in 1949 by the American author Fredric Brown.
Synopsis
Keith Winton is an editor for a science fiction magazine, working during the late 40s when genre fiction magazines have not yet give ...
'' (1949) is a parody of pulp sci-fi story conventions. ''Martians, Go Home
''Martians, Go Home'' is a science fiction comic novel by American writer Fredric Brown, published in the magazine ''Astounding Science Fiction'' in September 1954 and later by E. P. Dutton in 1955. The novel concerns a writer who witnesses an a ...
'' (1955) is both a broad farce and a satire on human frailties as seen through the eyes of a billion jeering, invulnerable Martians who arrive not to conquer the world but to drive it crazy.
''The Lights in the Sky Are Stars'' (1952) tells the story of an aging astronaut who is trying to get his beloved space program back on track after Congress has cut its funding.
Brown's flash fiction short story "The Hobbyist" (1961) is about a man named Sangstrom, who is in a desperate search for an undetectable poison but winds up getting more than he bargained for.
The short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
"Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...
" was used as the basis for the episode of the same name in the original ''Star Trek'' series. It was also adapted in 1973 for issue 4 of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
title ''Worlds Unknown
''Worlds Unknown'' was a science-fiction comic book published by American company Marvel Comics in the 1970s, which adapted classic short stories of that genre, including works by Frederik Pohl, Harry Bates, and Theodore Sturgeon.
Publication h ...
.''
Brown's first mystery novel, '' The Fabulous Clipjoint'', won the Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
for outstanding first mystery novel.[ It began a series starring Ed and Ambrose Hunter depicting how a young man gradually ripens into a detective under the tutelage of his uncle, an ex–private eye now working as a carnival concessionaire.][
Many of his books make use of the threat of the supernatural or occult before the "straight" explanation comes at the end. For example, "Night of the Jabberwock" is a humorous narrative of an extraordinary day in the life of a small-town newspaper editor.
'' The Screaming Mimi'' became a 1958 film starring ]Anita Ekberg
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...
and Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper and vedette famous for her striptease act. Also an actress, author, and playwright, her 1957 memoir was adapted in ...
. It was directed by Gerd Oswald
Gerd Oswald (June 9, 1919 – May 22, 1989) was a German director of American films and television.
Biography
Born in Berlin, Oswald was the son of German film director Richard Oswald and actress Käthe Oswald. He worked as a child actor be ...
, who also directed the "Fun and Games" episode of ''The Outer Limits''. Its plot was similar to Brown's short story "Arena" and ''The Far Cry'', noir suspense novels reminiscent of the work of Cornell Woolrich
Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley.
His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...
. ''The Lenient Beast'' experiments multiple first-person viewpoints, among them a gentle, deeply religious serial killer, and examines racial tensions between Anglos
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
and Latinos
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
in the US state of Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. ''Here Comes a Candle'' is told in straight narrative sections alternating with a radio script, a screenplay, a sportscast, a teleplay, a stage play, and a newspaper article.
Popularity and influence
His short story "Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...
" was voted by Science Fiction Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy
Fantas ...
as one of the top 20 science fiction stories written before 1965. His 1945 short story "The Waveries" was described by Philip K. Dick as "what may be the most significant—startlingly so—story sci-fi has yet produced". The opening of " Knock" is a complete two-sentence short-short story in itself.
Brown was one of three dedicatees of Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 novel ''Stranger in a Strange Land
''Stranger in a Strange Land'' is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by ...
'' (the other two being Robert Cornog
Robert Alden Cornog (July 7, 1912 – July 17, 1998) was a physicist and engineer who helped develop the atomic bomb and missile systems, and made significant discoveries regarding isotopes of hydrogen and helium.
A native of Portland, Oregon, ...
and Philip José Farmer).
In his non-fiction book ''Danse Macabre
The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death.
The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...
'' (1981), a survey of the horror genre since 1950, writer Stephen King includes an appendix of "roughly one hundred" influential books of the period: Fredric Brown's short-story collection ''Nightmares and Geezenstacks'' is included, and is, moreover, asterisked as being among those select works King regards as "particularly important".
Brown's short story "Naturally" was adapted as '' Geometria'', a short film by director Guillermo del Toro. Another short story, "The Last Martian", was adapted as "Human Interest Story", an episode of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
''. In Spain, his short story "Nightmare in Yellow" was adapted as ''El cumpleaños'' (The Birthday), the debut episode of ''Historias para no dormir
''Historias para no dormir'' () is a Spanish horror anthology television series written and directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, produced by Televisión Española and broadcast on its flagship Primera Cadena network from 1966 to 1982.
Hi ...
''.
In ''The Annotated Alice
''The Annotated Alice'' is a 1960 book by Martin Gardner incorporating the text of Lewis Carroll's major tales, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871), as well as the original illustrations by John Te ...
'' (1960), Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...
refers to Brown's ''Night of the Jabberwock'' as a "magnificently funny mystery novel ... an outstanding work of fiction that has close ties to the '' Alice'' books."
In the third episode of the third season of Amazon's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ''The Man In The High Castle
''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues b ...
'' Oberstgruppenführer Smith remarks, when told of the possibility of travel between worlds, that "this is like something out of Fredric Brown", implying that Brown's work is known in the German-occupied areas of the former United States.
His novel ''The Lights in the Sky Are Stars'' gives its name to the final episode of 2007 anime ''Gurren Lagann
''Gurren Lagann'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyu ...
''.
Philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
in his book ''On Ugliness
''On Ugliness'' ( it, Storia della bruttezza) is a 2007 essay by Italian author Umberto Eco, originally published by Bompiani in 2007. The book is a continuation of Eco's 2004 aesthetic work '' On Beauty: A History of a Western Idea''. Like the pr ...
'' describes Brown's short story "Sentry" as, "one of the finest short stories produced by contemporary science fiction" and uses its twist ending as an example of how ugliness and aesthetics are relative to different cultures.
Bibliography
References
Sources
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External links
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* A short science fiction story.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Fredric
1906 births
1972 deaths
American atheists
American mystery writers
American science fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
Crime novelists
Edgar Award winners
Pulp fiction writers
Writers from Cincinnati
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers
Novelists from Ohio