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And nowhere is Bester funnier, speedier, or more audacious than in these seventeen short stories—two of them previously unpublished—that have now been brought together in a single volume for the first time.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 93
... body , a child dead in a rice paddy . There was no water in her mouth . There were fingermarks on her throat . Her innocent face was battered . Her body was torn . Clotted blood on her skin was crusted and hard . " Dead three - four ...
... body , a child dead in a rice paddy . There was no water in her mouth . There were fingermarks on her throat . Her innocent face was battered . Her body was torn . Clotted blood on her skin was crusted and hard . " Dead three - four ...
Page 274
... body forward . Then he brought his right knee under him and reached forward with elbows again . Elbows , knee , elbows , knee - He had forgotten what it was to walk . Life , he thought dazedly , is miraculous . It adapts itself to any ...
... body forward . Then he brought his right knee under him and reached forward with elbows again . Elbows , knee , elbows , knee - He had forgotten what it was to walk . Life , he thought dazedly , is miraculous . It adapts itself to any ...
Page 284
... body . He pulled and pulled the trigger until the roars died away and only empty clicks sounded . Umber shuddered in the ashes before him , his body nearly shot in two . Thick scarlet stained the gray . Evelyn and Hallmyer looked down ...
... body . He pulled and pulled the trigger until the roars died away and only empty clicks sounded . Umber shuddered in the ashes before him , his body nearly shot in two . Thick scarlet stained the gray . Evelyn and Hallmyer looked down ...
Contents
Disappearing Act | 3 |
Oddy and Id | 22 |
Star Light Star Bright | 38 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
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Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester Alfred Bester,Roger Zelazny Limited preview - 1997 |
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