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Virtual unrealities:

the short fiction of Alfred Bester
Front Cover
26 Reviews
Vintage Books, Nov 11, 1997 - Fiction - 366 pages
"Dazzlement and enchantment are Bester's methods. His stories never stand still a moment."
—Damon Knight, author of Why Do Birds

Alfred Bester took science fiction into hyperdrive, endowing it with a wit, speed, and narrative inventiveness that have inspired two generations of writers. And nowhere is Bester funnier, speedier, or more audacious than in these seventeen short stories—two of them previously unpublished—that have now been brought together in a single volume for the first time.

Read about the sweet-natured young man whose phenomenal good luck turns out to be disastrous for the rest of humanity. Find out why tourists are flocking to a hellish little town in a post-nuclear Kansas. Meet a warlock who practices on Park Avenue and whose potions comply with the Pure Food and Drug Act. Make a deal with the Devil—but not without calling your agent. Dazzling, effervescent, sexy, and sardonic, Virtual Unrealities is a historic collection from one of science fiction's true pathbreakers.

"Alfred Bester was one of the handful of writers who invented modern science fiction. "
—Harry Harrison

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Review: Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester

User Review  - Ilya - Goodreads

A reprinting of several of Bester's fantastic stories from the 1950s. One science fiction-horror story involves an early form of Nigerian spam as a major plot element (a character goes around the ... Read full review

Review: Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester

User Review  - Víkingur Fjalar - Goodreads

The time travel classic "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" is my favorite sf short story of all time. Read full review

All 17 reviews »

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Contents

Introduction by Robert Silverberg ix
3
Oddy and Id
22
Star Light Star Bright
38
Copyright

10 other sections not shown

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About the author (1997)

ALFRED BESTER was born in 1913. His fiction career included writing for the pulp magazines, comics, radio, and television. His extraordinary book, The Demolished Man, was the first winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel and was followed by the brilliant novels The Stars My Destination, The Computer Connection, Golem100, and The Deceivers, and numerous short stories. Bester was honored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America with a Grandmaster Award. He died in 1987.

Philip Wylie (1902-71) is the author of "Gladiator" and the coauthor of "When Worlds Collide," both available in Bison Books editions. Acclaimed science-fiction writer Robert Silverberg is the recipient of many awards, including the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards, and the Grand Master designation from the Science Fiction Writers of America, the highest science-fiction honor available. He is the author of "Lord Valentine's Castle,

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