Talk:Alfred Bester
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Just what is "He already knew some people" supposed to mean? Some people "in the business" ? Some people "in high places" ? Some people in the mafia? Some people on the planet Pluto? This passage is pretty slackly written, and if the intention is to portray Bester as some kind of operator or master of self promotion, it should be fleshed out.
Did he ever write a follow-up to The Demolished Man? I always wanted to find out how "Honest Abe" stole the weather. Phil 09:24, Dec 12, 2003 (UTC)
- Unfortunately, no (or perhaps fortunately). The story is complete, and the world he created feels like it continues to exist beyond the scope of that narrative. Does it really need more? DS 23:56, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Why doesn't this entry say anything about his demise? I've found that you can collect enough information about his life but not a single article discussing his death. (Mondongo)
Mondongo, this was the only thing I've found that mentions why he died: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1424376/bio
Articles were usually written in print around the time of Bester's death. He died before the Web - when Usenet and BBSes were the norm instead. However, Silverberg's introduction in _Virtual Unrealities_ discusses Bester's work more than anything else. Locus Magazine, F&SF, and Asimov's are the best possibilities for obits.
=Chica= 04:58, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
Contents |
[edit] Splitting the page
OK, so what do we call the new pages. I suggest:
- Alfred Bester (author)
- Alfred Bester (fictional character) already there but REDIRECTs here
Any different suggestions?
--Phil | Talk 10:47, Jun 25, 2004 (UTC)
Alfred Bester (fictional character) moved to Alfred Bester (Babylon 5)
--wwoods 19:16, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Green Lantern's Oath
If Bester started writing comics in 1942, it seems unlikely that he wrote the original Green Lantern oath, which was published in 1940, probably in All-American Comics #16, July 1940, in the origin story of Green Lantern Alan Scott.
Bester is rumored to have written a new version of the oath for a 1943 story, but no one knows the issue date or which magazine it is supposed to have appeared in (whether All-American or Green Lantern) which seems very suspicious. For every other version of Alan Scott/Green Lantern's oath, and there were many, the exact issue of its appearance is known and documented.
It seems likely that the version of the oath attributed to Bester was written by John Broome, who used it for the origin of the Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, in Showcase #22, Oct. 1959.
Reading Bester's own essays in print does answer this question. As I recall, he discusses the original oath - but I refer you to his collections. Bester also writes brief essays in front of the stories, so it would be in one of these:
- The Light Fantastic Volume 1: The Short Fiction Of Alfred Bester
- Star Light, Star Bright: The Short Fiction Of Alfred Bester, Volume 2
- The Light Fantastic Volume 2: The Short Fiction Of Alfred Bester
I just returned two of these to the library. I read _Star Light, Star Bright_ and whichever _Light Fantastic_ has the Asimov essay.
=Chica= 03:56, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The Men Who Murdered Mohammed
There really needs to be an article on this story... [1] -- AnonMoos 16:56, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Redirect errors
- "Hobson's Choice" goes to the play of that name. Most story links by title tend to go to a story summary.
- "Disappearing Act" redirects to an album called Cobblestone Runway, which is not related to the story; the album possesses a track of that name.
- "The Sun" is an article. It may be related to The Sun newspaper, but for some reason I find this unlikely, so I took off the redirect.
=Chica= 03:43, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
