Case and the Dreamer, Volume XIII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon completes the fine series published by North Atlantic Books. This final volume of Theodore Sturgeon’s work from 1972 to 1983 includes Forwards by Peter S. Beagle and Debbie Notkin and a summary Afterward by Paul Williams. I own this complete series and have enjoyed every volume. Theodore Sturgeon was one of the best short story writers ever and these volumes prove it. I highly recommend all 13 volumes in this series.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Theodore Sturgeon and The Last Unicorn By Peter S. Beagle
Lifelong Passion: Theodore Sturgeon’s Fiction By Debbie Notkin
Tuesdays are Worse
Case and the Dreamer
Agnes, Accent and Access
Ingenious Aylmer
The Sheriff of Chayute
The Mysterium
“I Love Maple Walnut”
Blue Butter
The Singsong of Cecily Snow
Harry’s Note
Time Warp
The Country of Afterward
Like Yesterday
Why Dolphins Don’t Bite
Vengeance Is
Seasoning
Not an Affair
Black Moccasins
The Trick
Grizzly
Theodore Sturgeon: Storyteller By Paul Williams
Story Notes By Noel Sturgeon
Index of Stories in The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon
I don’t have this one yet but expect to see it in a few days. It’s been a wonderful series thus far. And Sturgeon is virtually without peer as a short story writer
You’re right, Scott, this complete series of Sturgeon short stories has been wonderful. Sadly, given the state of publishing today, few if any any projects like this would attempted.
Too bad so few of today’s SF fans know Sturgeon. One of the greats.
I know what you mean, Bill. Sturgeon’s work was a big part of my teenage years. I read everything the guy wrote. Today, he’s a forgotten writer. Sad.
Stephen Haffner has been doing a great series of Jack Williamson short fiction and has also embarked on Edmond Hamilton. The books are all pretty wonderful. Not to mention the Clark Ashton Smith’s at nightshade for which Volume 5 should eventually be out. they had previously done the Manly Wade Wellman and William Hope Hodgson stories.
Small presses are the only ones who are interested in these retrospective projects, Scott. Night Shade Books did a fine job with their Manly Wade Wellman series. And they’re about to publish the last volume of Clark Ashton Smith’s short stories. But you won’t see Random House or Knopf do anything like that.
And Haffner is also doing Leigh Brackett and some Henry Kuttner too.
I buy nearly everything the Haffner Press publishes, Scott. Wonderful books!
Yikes – thirteen volumes?! I’ve only read volume 1 so far.
There are gems in every volume, Jeff. Sturgeon was a big influence on my teenage life so I just had to buy the entire series.
Another writer I’ve heard of for as long as I can remember but have never read.
You’re in for a treat, Paul! Sturgeon is a master of the short story.
I was pleased to find out our local public library has 7 of the books in the Sturgeon/North Atlantic collection, so I’ll have to check them out. Unfortunately, “Case and the Dreamer” isn’t one, but maybe I can order it via interlibrary loan.
CASE AND THE DREAMER was just published, BV. I’m sure your library system will buy it in the weeks ahead. Seven out of thirteen volumes…not bad. But most of the Sturgeon volumes are out-of-print.
CASE AND THE DREAMER is brand new, BV…hence a Not Yet Forgotten Book. Spare a thought, everyone, for Paul Williams, who is the single most responsible person for Philip Dick being as well-known outside of sf circles as he is, who started this Sturgeon series and edited the volumes until a horrific accident left him brain-damaged, and his life-partner Cindy Lee Berryhill and their offspring with some heart-rending choices. For that matter, spare a thought for Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury’s literary mentor (and a better writer than Bradbury), a genius and the buy who beat Graham Greene in a story contest at the British edition of ARGOSY in the late ’40s, with the disturbing “Bianca’s Hands” (Greene came in second, so no shame there). My only grouse is that they foolishly decided “I Say…Ernest…” was a sort of half-fictionalized essay and so left it out of this volume.
You’re right, Todd, CASE AND THE DREAMER is a brand new book. But the stories it contains have certainly been forgotten and mostly been unavailable to casual readers. I’ve heard rumors that the publisher was reluctant to finish the Sturgeon project. It’s remarkable that Paul Williams managed to complete this fabulous series.
I suspect, w/o having read it, that Williams wrote the afterword some time ago. I don’t think the deterioration after the accident has left him capable of much. Sturgeon’s kid and others have been doing what was necessary or not already done by PW in terms of story notes and such for the last several volumes. Has North Atlantic been putting them out of print? Damn.
You can buy North Atlantic’s BRIGHT SEGMENT: VOLUME VIII of the Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon for $540 on AMAZON, Todd. Paul Williams’ final essay seemed cobbled together to me.
I’m delighted, and a little frightened, to see the whole set is still in print and available. I can’t order anything now due to the move, but once ensconced in beautiful, green sunny fantastic Portland I will revisit the North Atlantic site, now bookmarked, and get at least the first 3 or 4 volumes.
AMAZON only lists six of the thirteen titles in the series as being available, Rick. The others seem to be out-of-print and VERY pricey.
I only looked at what was on the site, and only clicked on the first four, but since they were listed…
Don’t be fooled by the North Atlantic Books web site, Rick. I tried to order BRIGHT SEGMENT from them and ran into all kinds of problems. I had to go through Random House, who is distributing their books, for a refund since BRIGHT SEGMENT was out-of-print everywhere except on the North Atlantic Books web site. I don’t know if it’s an updating problem or what.
Hi all:
Thanks for the kind comments. It is heartwarming to know that people still love and remember Sturgeon’s work. Before the last volume was published, I discovered that three of the volumes, Bright Segment being one, were out of print. North Atlantic committed to putting them all back in print so that people could complete their sets. It may be that this process is taking a while. I will check with them. But, it does speak to the fact that these volumes may not be able to be purchased at a reasonable price for long…
Also, just a note, Paul’s essay in Volume 13 is not cobbled together, but republished as it was originally written in 1976. As it is one of the best analyses of Sturgeon’s work that I know, I thought it was worthwhile to appear in the last volume..also to honor Paul, who was so sadly unable to finish the great editing work he did for the first 11 volumes.
Again, thanks for the support.
Noel Sturgeon
Trustee, Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust
BRIGHT SEGMENT is back in print, Noel. I’m hoping North Atlantic Books keeps the complete set of 13 Volumes in print. Do you know of any plans to publish the set as ebooks? I’ll keep using my blog to remind people of the wonderful work Theodore Sturgeon produced.