Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester"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And nowhere is Bester funnier, speedier, or more audacious than in these seventeen short stories—two of them previously unpublished—that have now been brought together in a single volume for the first time.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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Page 144
... girls appeared , his grim possession would take over again and he would examine the line carefully and dispassionately . Very rarely he would discover a girl that interested him ; always the identical type - a girl with jet hair , inky ...
... girls appeared , his grim possession would take over again and he would examine the line carefully and dispassionately . Very rarely he would discover a girl that interested him ; always the identical type - a girl with jet hair , inky ...
Page 145
... girls made Alceste dizzy . " He's got an idee fix , " Alceste told Fisher in the Cygnus Splen- dide , “ and I got it figured this much . He's looking for a special partic- ular girl and nobody comes up to specifications . " " A girl ...
... girls made Alceste dizzy . " He's got an idee fix , " Alceste told Fisher in the Cygnus Splen- dide , “ and I got it figured this much . He's looking for a special partic- ular girl and nobody comes up to specifications . " " A girl ...
Page 148
... girl after girl . He hopes . He talks . He makes the pass . If it's Sima's duplicate , he knows she'll re- spond just the way he remembers Sima responding ten years ago . ' Are you Sima ? ' he asks himself . ' No , ' he says and moves ...
... girl after girl . He hopes . He talks . He makes the pass . If it's Sima's duplicate , he knows she'll re- spond just the way he remembers Sima responding ten years ago . ' Are you Sima ? ' he asks himself . ' No , ' he says and moves ...
Contents
Disappearing Act | 3 |
Oddy and Id | 22 |
Star Light Star Bright | 38 |
Copyright | |
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Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester Alfred Bester,Roger Zelazny Limited preview - 1997 |
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