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I was listening to this story on the commute and I missed a lot of stops as a result

I read Bisson's "Bears Discover Fire" almost two decades ago because it was anthologized in the late Gardner Dozois' mostly excellent collection Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction (2005). I didn't get it either. I wonder if there were any formal statements at the time explaining why it was selected for so many awards. Also with the car breakdown in the woods it reminds me a bit of Flannery O'Connor's famous short story "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" (1953), also a story where not much happens. Will be interesting if any other commenters can explain why Bisson's story is so well thought of generally.

0:27 what? That’s kind of awesome. When King eventually passes away the monetary value of that book will be astronomical

I’ve read the first issue long ago, but it was in French and not really a good translation. At this time, I didn’t speak English very well. I think I still don’t but it’s way better. But the Japanese animated adaptation is a classic in France. The sound of the opening and the ending is kind of silly, but it’s classic too. They say captain future you are not from our ! So I imagine lots of little Frenchies of the generation before me thinking that the moon isn’t part of the Milky Way :-) By the way, excuse me for the mistakes, as I said before I am French, but I am also blind, and I use voice typing on my phone. Galaxy I imagine so lad

The more I view your reviews the more I cannot wait for the next one. Excellent content.

I haven't read Ballard yet sadly, but the Star Trek episode you might be thinking of with a similar conceit is "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" from The Original Series. As I recall, in that ST:TOS story -- which I really enjoyed watching a few years ago -- people basically grow up inside a travelling, windowless spaceship thinking that's all there is until our Enterprise crew shows up, shaking their worldview. Similarly, the old, original Might & Magic computer role-playing games from the '80s and '90s used a similar concept: your player-character adventurers begin by exploring a fantasy-like realm with orcs and dragons and whatnot, only to find out later that they and the realm are enclosed in a space-journeying, experimental, science fictional planet-size ship. I wonder what versions of this idea of a world locked within a larger world show up in various mythologies from centuries or millenia ago. (It's also not entirely dissimilar to braneworlds in physics string theory.)

11:09

My favorite Poe stroy.

I think this story's power comes primarily from the 'telling details' about sea life Sturgeon knew personally thanks to his time in the Merchant Marine before writing this in 1939. All the details--15,000 tons; MEDICO on the radio; the breechs buoy across the cable--really put you enjoyably into the heart of this sailor setting. Agreed on that point. If I were an editor asking Sturgeon to revise, I'd suggest a bit more focus on the titular sick kid's characterization. The narrator tells us he's "Green but willing to learn. He was tall and very thin. Been out of work a long time, he told us. Hadn’t been eating much." Yet nothing much comes of this interesting mix of poverty and drive -- both things Sturgeon himself knew lifelong. How did this experience of not being able to withstand sea life and being rescued (and at public expense) change the sick kid? Sturgeon could've easily tacked on another paragraph of, say, the narrator and his shipmates receiving a letter afterward from the sick kid and discussing it. It wouldn't have to hammer home any didactic lessons, but just sort of show us more how the story's main incident impacted the sick kid and the other characters afterward. The Ultimate Egoist collection in the back has Sturgeon's correspondence with his mother about the story. He basically says he shoehorned in its "supersuperpseudo-patriotism" to ensure a sale because he needed to eat. Almost as if makes him seasick himself. But this was 1939 when the New Deal was under a lot of debate; its Federal Theatre Program was shut down the same month this story was published, a loud debate he was likely aware of. The story's politicizing doesn't seem too out of place, especially given that McClure published these in newspapers. It's also the first-person narrator essentially saying in folksy language, 'You think these rescue programs are wasteful? Then let me tell you about the sick kid.' That personal experience is a lot more palatable than enduring more political speechwriters' work-product. Sturgeon also tells his mother he's just in fiction-writing to be commercial; he claims disdain for higher artistic motives and says he won't ever write anything great like The Grapes of Wrath. He just thinks if it sells, it's good, and he has no higher aims. It definitely gives off a "doth protest too much" vibe, like he's trying to come to terms with realizing he has outsize talent -- at merely 21 years old, on a shoestring budget. Not unlike the sick kid.

I have a book of Theodore Sturgeon western short stories I want to read.

Oh Jesus. “Nazi’s were atheists who burned the Bible”? Not in this timeline, dude. Nazi Germany was an overwhelmingly Christian nation. A census in May 1939, six years into the Nazi era and a year following the annexations of Austria and Czechoslovakia into Germany, indicates that 54% of the population considered itself Protestant, 41% considered itself Catholic, 3.5% self-identified as Gottgläubig(lit. "believing in God"), and 1.5% as "atheist". So, yeah, about 200 Nazis were atheists. The millions of others?- not so much.

Right. “You get cancelled”… except no one ever actually gets cancelled. Here you are, along with Joe Rogan, Dave Chappell, Louis C.K. and every other “cancelled” voice, fully free and able to express yourself. “They” can “actually” ruin your life? Great to see you here doing this analysis, but wow did I not see that swerve into paranoid fantasy coming. I hope you survive the Woke Wars. Stay strong 🙄

Blish wrote a bunch of book reviews from 1970 to 1971 in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

I've heard some James Blish on the older radio show/dramas like X Minus One.

That sounds epic! I'll have to check that out. Thank you.

The gift Welles gave us is the "Time-Machine" as we can be inspired to plum the depths where he was discovering that the past( plato/Atlantis/Homer) had already fore-told their visions. Welles updated all those Distopian/ Utopian scenarios and consolidated it all into a single story . The book is a "Time-Machine". The Chronic Argonauts is a brilliant title and deserves recognition just for showing us Welles had arrived at a Cross-roads after a lot of effort.

Wow! I didn't know Galaxy has been resurrected! My understanding is that, save for a brief blip in the mid-1990s, Galaxy's been out of commission since 1980, almost a half-century ago now. Theodore Sturgeon published some of his biggest stories in Galaxy: "Slow Sculpture"; "A Saucer of Loneliness"; others. Reminds me a little of the various resurrections of Weird Tales magazine over the decades (or, to be Lovecraftian, across the eldritch eternities...) A video idea (if you or someone else wants): Compare/contrast the latest issue of some big science fiction short stories magazine with its very first issue. Or maybe do comparisons according to some other plan, like, take one issue of a long-running magazine per decade and compare them all; or take one issue of a long-running magazine per presidential administration; or one issue per ... How do the magazines and their stories change across time as historical forces flux around them? Is there a recognizable Galaxy or F&SF aesthetic that has persisted across decades, owners, and editors, or is it the march of time that has the biggest impact on the authors/stories? Etc. Thanks for the great videos!

"James" is/was a gal with a sensitive job in an intelligence agency. She had to think fast when literary success was thrust upon her in a phone call and chose the name on a jam jar on her table as her pen name to avoid work complications.

I have to disagree with your interpretation of The Sea Lady. I think the ending is highly ambiguous and not a straightforward cautionary tale. Does Chatteris sink to his death or ascend into immortality? So much of the book is a satire on the shallowness, vanity, and artificiality of Victorian life and manners, that his rejection of it (in favor of something "deeper") does not compel a tragic reading.

Interesting discussion. Keep up the good work! I've been following your videos while I make my way through Dangerous Visions. While this isn't my favourite Philip Jose Farmer story (I found the experimental style too jarring for my tastes), I'm definitely a fan of his work, after having discovered the Riverworld series a few years ago. I agree, his work deserves to be talked about today and kept in print for modern readers to discover and enjoy. I've been collecting vintage copies of his books over the last few years. Just the other day, I picked up a copy of the 1961 novel edition of The Lovers, which I expect to get round to soon, along with his 1980s Dayworld series.

I actually have ebook version of this. You have convinced me to read it soon. How have I not read Ooze?! Great video, as usual!

Never read this one... but I can definitely it's influence on later works! (Such as '80 Minuet Hour' & 'Frankenstein Unbound'!)

Fascinating question, right in time for Samhain. I like the point about, horror is often not just 'about evil' but instead, 'about triumphing over evil, or at least trying to' which is a different viewpoint entirely. Years ago I read all of Peter Straub's horror fiction and enjoyed it. It's been a while, so not sure what I'd make of it now, but I really liked his short, 2003 novel Lost Boy Lost Girl. Generally he argued that we should get away from the simplistic "affect horror" view where the horror aesthetic is all about producing certain emotions in the audience like feeling scared. Instead, Straub sort of said that horror takes our rose-tinted glasses off our easygoing daily lives so that we experience life more fully, including the horrific aspects we usually tune out, and that horrific events can spark revelations or transformations in character. A little like Flannery O'Connor's 1953 short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." I'm not a big fan of Zen, but the Zen philosophers of the Kyoto School had an interesting three-stage model that's relevant ... In the first stage, a person has rose-tinted glasses on and lives a sort of fake-happy life. But in the second stage, the "Great Death" or "Great Doubt" as they called it -- some horrific event like a divorce or death in the family or in Straub's case getting hit by a car as a child -- knocks you back and nullifies your rose-tinted glasses and makes you see a fuller range of life's ups and downs, which can result in nihilism and despair. So then the question becomes, does the second-stage person retreat back to the first stage, or do they somehow advance to a third stage where the rose-tinted glasses stay off but the person is no longer debilitated by all the awfulness and can thrive and triumph over evil. It fits the whole Freytag plot idea of a novel having a baseline for the characters (stage one) and then an inciting incident that plunges them into darkness (second stage) so that they then confront the plot obstacles and aspire to overcome the big bad monster (achieving the third stage). Anti-genre "realistic" fiction types sometimes call that unrealistic and escapist but at its best it can be very inspirational. Thanks for all your channel's episodes!

August 1926 Weird Tales? That's going way back! I didn't know anybody nowadays remembered Edmond Hamilton. He's not my favorite SF author of all, but he belongs to the pulp SF era, which is the time when my favorite science fiction stories were published. In an essay honoring E.E. Smith, Robert A. Heinlein pointed out that what we now call the old, worn-out tropes of science fiction, were not worn-out when they were being invented by that generation of authors. I love an SF idea when it appears in its original form, from back in the day!

Where was Heywood? Did I miss something? It was like he never existed.

Tom Godwin ripped off British writer E.C. Tubb's story "The Precedent", which had been published a couple of years earlier.

Of course he is psychotic. He finishes murdering his wife without realising he is doing it. Then he drowns himself.

I think Powers was a neurosurgeon. He operated on Kaldren to eliminate his ability to sleep.

Great review. I think Uncharles is a compelling character, and I appreciated the dry humour and thought-provoking themes throughout this novel. Have a look at the UK cover design, too - personally I prefer it to the North American edition.

Drug it out and still didn’t read the story sheesh

It's my favorite poem, it was hard to find a female reading that wasn't overly dramatic, this was my favorite by far

I've enjoyed the handful of H.G. Wells novels I've read: The War of the Worlds; The Time Machine; The Invisible Man. Looking forward to reading his short stories someday, so I'm glad you held up the complete short stories book so I could take a mental snapshot of the cover in case I ever see it at a bookstore. As far as his views on marriage and romantic relationships, an interesting datum is of course the moment in The War of the Worlds where the protagonist and his wife re-encounter each other and just look at each other uneasily, a strange moment that was included in the Tom Cruise movie version. People have debated for a long time what to make of the odd interaction. They don't rush to hug each other or anything. As far as the accusations against Neil Gaiman, I agree with y'all's approach of reading and discussing the texts, with author bio and societal context as part of the deal. I was thinking also, there's a potential science fiction connection since you mentioned digging into these issues more in the future. A transparent justice system has two stages. First, there's a public accusation; second, a trial to figure out innocence or guilt. I think a lot of people understandably, even correctly in some instances, lost faith in stage #2 in our current world, esp. when accusations had been made against very powerful people and just got accusers in trouble, and no justice. So more emphasis in the past decade or so has been placed on stage #1: if you can't get justice from the judicial courts, try the court of public opinion or try ensuring consequences such as loss of employment or loss of certain international travel/visa rights, etc. But that won't work forever, for reasons you point out - as just one example, lots of actually innocent people have been death penalty'd due to error or malevolence. So that must mean reforming or building a replacement for stage #2, i.e., creating a better judicial system, one that people can understand and trust and even recommend to each other. Maybe that's where science fiction could come in, to explore alternatives or thought experiments. I searched Clute's online SF Encyclopedia for phrases like "justice system" and "law" and didn't see any entries :\ Most works that come to my mind are pessimistic iones like stories about pre-crime predictive policing and the like. Which is good too, but maybe there are some more optimistic ones out there somewhere.

Well said Greg. I'm not religious but I think "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and "Judge not lest thee be judged" are wise counsel. Glad to hear a voice of moderation in these polarised, finger-pointing times.

Just finished this novella. This was a great discussion to watch! Im glad to see someone else talking about it in 2024

I would suggest that you research this a little better, rather than starting this off by saying it's unproven. I don't think you understand that he has admitted to having sex with his nanny who was much much younger than him within hours of her starting in his employment. He admitted to that but said it was consensual. When she's much younger than him and his employee how is that even right? We also know for a fact that he has made two women sign NDAs and three women have been paid off. A total of seven women came forward and five but their stories on the record. In the current climate is not going to go down very well with many many SA survivors who loved this book but are broken hearted by the actions of Neil Gaiman. So I think you should consider some of the things you were saying in this light. I would put links but I know that RUclips doesn't allow that. However all of the Tortoise media "The Master" podcasts are up now on RUclips you just need to search for them. Otherwise it feels like you're saying "hey we wanted to talk about this book so we are going to justify it.."

Neil Gaiman having done what he did breaks my heart. Never in a million years would I’ve thought he’d be a predator.

I have indeed read "No Help Wanted" and am fortunate enough to have a physical copy of that issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. I enjoyed it quite a bit but mostly, as you suggest, as an example of the pre-Golden Age stuff. That, and I find it interesting to read along with Bester's work in those early days as he developed his craft. I did a video of the story myself, along with "The Broken Axiom", on my own channel. Like you, I really enjoy the old pulps, and also collect them. Lots of fun! But, yeah, handle them carefully! Thrilling Wonder in particular was printed on REALLY crumbly stock! Some of mine aren't yellow with age, they are RED with age! VERY brittle! Thanks for the video.

Another Great collection from Mr King. Is this The same Danny from Dennis Lehane’s The Given Day?!😎👍🏻

This is perhaps my favorite Ballard story. I wish someone would do it as a film version.

I really like this book.

Thank you for the video.

Lovely review! Just ordered it online and I'm excited to read it 😺

I'm just trying to keep you on your toes!

Sounds intriguing. I think I need to consider adding Night Shift to my reading list. King's 1985 book Skeleton Crew is one of my favourite short story collections.

I saw this thumbnail and I rifled through my copy of night shift looking for this story (an original copy with the "I am the doorway" cover I was so pleased to find), had no idea about these two rarities. Why didn't he just put them into any of his subsequent anthologies?? And yet this premise sounds so familiar, wasn't it adapted into Creepshow, in very camp style, staring King himself? All the stranger it wasn't reprinted until 2020.

You deserve more subscribers....i purchase ASF&F and Asimovs SF from my local Barnes & Noble Bi-monthly though ive heard that Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine is against the ropes

Having yet to read much Ballard, I found this short story disconcerting but quite impressive. The prose is brilliant, and the atmosphere was engrossing. What at first appeared ambiguous, felt satisfactorily clarified with the beautifully concise ending. I’m certainly going to read more short form Ballard.

Great Writing, but in general for Burroughs to make Heroin Cool and Hip, just like Jack Kerouac making Homelessness trendy is Abhorrent. Some of the Greatest Writers of all Time, but I don't like them as People. Sorry, not Sorry. I even believe Micheal Faccoult and Judith Butler to be more Intelligent and sensible then the Notorious 3. Hurbert Selby Jr , Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Judith Butler, Micheal Fuccoult and Steven King all pushed the Envelope, but knew where to draw the Line. Burroughs didn't, even Ginsburg and Kerouac knew where to draw the line, nothing Shocking by Today's standards, but I have a Hard Time Defending Burroughs not only as a Person, but as a writer. Where as Kerouac and Ginsburg are appropriate for a High School Library, Burroughs wouldn't unless you have Hustler or Penthouse at your Library, for College as a Document of History, you'd read William S. Burroughs. And while I think it's great to play Gay Characters and have LGBTIA+Q Actors and give them Parts in Plays and Films, which is Great. Content like Queer, Junkie, Naked Lunch and Cities of the Red Night just takes us back 50 Years. Sorry, not sorry. I will have to watch the movie and I wish Daniel Craig all the best of Luck, but can't we at Sundance, Cannes, TIFF ect. have better Judgement in the Films, Directors and Artists that we Promote?

2:46 I had this realization about my mother the other day. She wouldn’t profess to ever be a fan of Stephen King but as a kid I remember she was enraptured by his movies. Misery in particular, and as I think about it..the 80s were the era of macho movies and here’s this movie about a dumpy woman trapping and torturing a man and it must have just tickled the shit out of her. Green Mile. Shawshank. I remember the day Michael Jackson died, I happened to be in NYC, the only day I’ve ever been in NYC and the entire city was stopped at that news. Eventually when King passes it’s going to a similar moment where the world will stop for a day because he really has touched all of us.

This story is such a weird one. It is like a bizarre acid trip. But for me it certainly is memorable when you think about Night Shift this story is never forgotten. I think that the ending of 'Needful Things' has trace elements of this story.