FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #566: AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION: EIGHT CLASSIC NOVELS OF THE 1960s Edited by Gary K. Wolfe

I love these Library of America volumes! Of course, Gary K. Wolfe should prepare for some quibbles about his choices. I’ll start with Volume 1. I like Poul Anderson’s The High Crusade (1960), but I like Anderson’s Tau Zero (1970) better for this decade. Simak’s Way Station (1963) won a Hugo Award and is one of my favorite Simak novels. Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon (1966) is the expanded version of the classic SF short story. Roger Zelazny’s …And Call Me Conrad (aka, This Immortal) (1965-1966) tied with Frank Herbert’s Dune for the 1966 Hugo Award for Best Novel. But I would have gone with Zelazny’s brilliant Lord of Light (1967) instead.

In Volume 2, Lafferty’s The Past Master (1968) quirky novel is the weakest link in this collection. I can think of dozen better SF novels from the 1960s than Lafferty’s work. Lafferty’s short stories range from incredible to silly. His novel tends more toward silly in this case. Joanna Russ’s Picnic on Paradise (1968) features a strong woman character in a dicey situation. Samuel R. Delany’s Nova (1968) blends cyborgs and tarot cards in a satisfying mix. Wolfe could have gone with Jack Vance’s Hugo Award winning The Dragon Masters (1965) or The Last Castle (1967), but he wisely chose Emphyrio (1969) a more obscure masterwork.

All in all, these Library of America volumes offer an excellent representation of SF novels of the 1960s. The Sixties were a time of change and these novels certainly reflect those changes. Recommended! How many of these SF novels have you read? GRADE: A

AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION: EIGHT CLASSIC NOVELS OF THE 1960s (two volumes) Library of America #321 & #322
Gary K. Wolfe, editor

Volume 1: Four Classic Novels 1960–1966
Poul Anderson, The High Crusade
Clifford D. Simak, Way Station
Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
Roger Zelazny, . . . And Call Me Conrad [This Immortal]

Volume 2: Four Classic Novels 1968–1969
R. A. Lafferty, Past Master
Joanna Russ, Picnic on Paradise
Samuel R. Delany, Nova
Jack Vance, Emphyrio

18 thoughts on “FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #566: AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION: EIGHT CLASSIC NOVELS OF THE 1960s Edited by Gary K. Wolfe

  1. Steve Oerkfitz

    Love these series. Obviously some seminal works are unavailable due to being in other LOA volumes. such as LeGuin and Dick, length, or rights problems. Not much of a fan of The High Crusade which I reread a year or so and found poorly written. Although I like Flowers For Algernon I think the original novelette more powerful. I’m a big fan of Lafferty but haven’t read Past Master in decades so can’t comment on it as the weak link. Vance’s The Dragon Masters and the Last Castle are actually novellas.
    I would have liked to have included Up the Line by Robert Silverberg but his best work was in the 70’s so maybe he will be in a future volume.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Steve, I agree with you on the original “Flowers For Algernon.” I’m anticipating Robert Silverberg to show up in AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION of the 1970s.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    I agree. I love the Library of America volumes (and the series in general). I’ve only read a couple of these, though – FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON and WAY STATION. I’ve read a bunch of Lafferty’s short stories.

    Reply
    1. Todd Mason

      Though as with most FFB bait, a lot of the best novels of the decade have been allowed to drift out of print. Sometimes, though, estate heirs/agents are difficult to work with. I’ve had that experience personally.

      Reply
      1. Jeff Meyerson

        True. I’ve discussed this with Doug Greene and he said that some of the heirs have very unrealistic views of how much they are worth. Instead of being happy your relatives’ stories are going to be reprinted, they have a fantasy of getting rich.

  3. wolf

    Of course I’ve read all of these, some I still remember like Simak and Vance – and of course Algernon.
    I was lucky there:
    Most of these excellent titles were translated by kind of fans into German and when I later did my regular visits to London I got the originals too. There weren’t that many SF books written in the 60 …

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, you’re right. The 1960s were still dominated by SF magazines, although SF paperback publishers like ACE and Ballantine were on the rise.

      Reply
  4. Rick Robinson

    The problem with the American Library books, of which I have several, is that hey are big, heavy, thin paper, small print. Otherwise, great.

    I think they did a good job with Vol. 1, though as good as Way Station is, I like City better. In Vol. 2 there is only one I’d keep, Nova, which is excellent. I’d choose Vance’s Dragon Masters, novelette or not.

    Reply
    1. Steve Oerkfitz

      Dune would be too long and as with A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller I don’t believe they could get the rights.

      Reply
      1. george Post author

        Steve, you’re right, of course. People who I know who’ve edited anthologies bemoan all the problems getting the stories they want. Contractual obligations, size, money, etc. work against an ideal collection.

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