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©
1998 - 2018 by
Zacharias L.A. Nuninga
(Netherlands)
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Acheron in the Wild West |
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15 Nov
2018
 Farmer wrote some stories that are not science fiction, as: gothic, horror, mystery, mainstream, and western for instance.
That makes it hard to search for translations of these stories, because
they are often not included in the expected and known foreign science
fiction magazines, or anthologies.
I found a German translation of the story "Uproar in Acheron" (German: "Aufruhr in Acheron") in the anthology with the English sounding title 18 Western Stories, in 1966 published by Heyne.
As far as I know there is only one other translation, the French one, "Tumulte à Acheron", from 1962.
I haven't found more translations of this story.
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A Beast Of The Fields, on A Writer's Desk |
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11 Nov
2018
From
Fred Fischer (USA) I received two items for the Bibliography. One is a
copy of the fanzine ERB-dom No. 52
(1971), but this I already had, and so the contents was known.
 The second item is a copy of the
fanzine Fantasy-Times
Volume 8 Number 5 (Whole Number 175), of March 1953. The fanzine calls
itself "World's Oldest Science-Fiction Newspaper".
It has some (now old) news about the pulp magazine Startling Stories,
that it will go bi-monthly starting with the August 1953 issue.
In the same article is the following announcement:
«Farmer's serial, the first in Startling
will begin in the October issue. It will be called "A Beast Of The
Fields"-and will be in three parts.»
Originally the announcement was true, but due to the fact that Startling Stories
had to go bi-monthly was for the editor the reason not to publish
serials anymore. It would take too long, six months, to have the story
complete. Farmer's story vanished for a very long time after this.
See also the info on the page Announced
Books.
Many thanks for both items Fred!
 Online I found the information of an article, stated to be written by Philip José Farmer, in the weekly magazine Saturday Review of June 1985, called "A Writer's Desk".
My guess is that it is not so much as written by Farmer himself, but he
is quoted a lot by the editor in this article. Farmer gives a
description of the items on and under his desk, and of all the art,
paintings and drawings, on the walls around his desk.
The article is accompanied with a half page photo of Farmer's office:
«...the office is "chock full of mementos" that reflect his
wide-ranging interests, including WW1 aviation, lighter-than-air craft,
genealogy, steamboats, and anthropology, to name a few. These, and
artwork from books, enliven a work space that began as a bare,
unfinished basement in his home in Peoria, Illinois.»
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Discussion
about the Riverworld Series |
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1 Nov
2018
Dan
Getz (USA), see the previous post, also sent me a link to a video at
YouTube, called 'Philip
Jose Farmer's Riverworld - Worlds of Speculative Fiction (lecture 13)'.
It is a very interesting video, but it takes 1:33 hour to listen en see
the full tape. The lecture by Dr. Gregory B. Sadler is very worthwhile
though. Just click on this link
to go to YouTube.
Many thanks again Dan!
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The
Riverworld Series Reconsidered |
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30 Oct
2018
 In 1983
Peter Heck wrote an essay in the Waldenbooks Otherworlds Club magazine,
Xignals
Vol. II, with the title "The
Riverworld Series Reconsidered".
It gives an enthusiastic impression of the Riverworld series, on
the occasion of the release of the fifth novel in the series, Gods
of Riverworld.
Peter Heck: «Each volume gradually moved closer to the secret
plan behind the resurrection, stripping away veils from the mystery.
...
Everything was resolved, tied up, and put in order — or so
Farmer
claimed — by the end of the fourth volume. ... It was so much
fun
that you can hardly blame him for leaving a loophole open for a return
trip. That, of course, is Gods
of Riverworld ... a book few readers will want to put down
unfinished.».
I received the information of this essay's publication from Dan Getz
(USA). Many thanks Dan!
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Seven
newly discovered publications |
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24 Oct
2018
While
I loved to lurk in the second hand book stores, nowadays the lurking is
mostly on the internet.
Finding unknown Farmer items this way is just as satisfying, as it was
in the book shops or book markets. Only the shipping cost...
This time I found six new publications of Die
Liebenden, the German translation of The
Lovers.
And I found a Korean publication, the second in this country that I
know of, of 가라, 흩어진 너희 몸들로 (To
Your Scattered Bodies Go).
First the 4th printing of the Knaur edition of Die Liebenden
(1982). Of the German omnibus Exotische
Welten, also from publisher Knaur, I found the 2nd till
6th printing (1985-1994). The omnibus also includes Die Liebenden by
Farmer.
And finally a new Korean publication, published by Firebird in 2015.
While I could buy the newly discovered German books, the Korean one was
sold out. Now I have to search for both Korean books to buy for my
collection.
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The
Bronze Gazette Issue 82 |
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23 Oct
2018
 The staff of the fanzine The Bronze Gazette
had some personal problems this past period, alas. Reason why it took a
little longer before Issue 82, Fall 2018, got published.
Of the contents are two essays of interest to us, the Farmerphiles.
First is a reprinted essay by Christopher Paul Carey, "Through the Seventh Gate:
Pursuing Farmer's Sources in Savageology". This essay tries
to answer
the question if Farmer met the Man of Bronze.
The second is an essay by Will Murray, "Escape From Loki Revisited".
Murray was clearly disappointed with Farmer's Escape
From Loki:
«I told Phil that given his reputation in the science fiction
field, and his imaginative powers, were I his editor, I would not have
let him do a mere World War I prisoner escape story. I would have
insisted that he set it in the 1930s and go full-blown
SF—even if that
meant the Man of Bronze fighting off an alien invasion. Phil did not
appreciate my opinion.»
Murray's essay also gives the story that Farmer had lost his first
draft of the novel, because of a computer crash. He had already written
about eighty percent of the novel, and had to write it all over again.
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New
edition of the omnibus Le Monde du Fleuve |
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21 Oct
2018
In
March 2016 Mnémos in France published the first hardcover
edition of an omnibus with all five novels in the Riverworld series, and
also the novella "Riverworld".
The omnibus was published with the French title Le
Monde du Fleuve.
The book was probably a success in France, for this month, October,
Mnémos released a second edition of the omnibus. This time
not a
hardcover with a dustjacket, but a hardcover with pictorial boards.
Again a huge and beautiful book with 1261 pages.
The price of it is € 37,00.
It contains these five novels and one novella:
- Le
Monde du fleuve (To
Your Scattered Bodies Go),
- Le
Bateau fabuleux (The
Fabulous Riverboat),
- Le
Noir Dessein (The
Dark Design),
- Le
Labyrinthe magique (The
Magic Labyrinth),
- "Ainsi meurt toute
chair" ("Riverworld"),
- Les
Dieux du Fleuve (Gods
of Riverworld).
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Limited
deluxe hardcover edition |
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10 Oct
2018
The
Philip José Farmer Centennial Collection
in the limited deluxe, lettered and signed edition, was received today.
There are only 52 lettered copies of this collection, lettered A-Z and
AA-ZZ. All of the five contributors, of which I'm one, have signed the
books.
It is a very beautiful edition. Both end
papers have a two page color illustration, the front end pages with the
cover of the trade paperback and the back end pages with the cover of
the trade hardcover.
I have entered it on the book page and the contents on their own pages.
One of the stories in the book is "The
Last Rise of Nick Adams".
I had to check it if the previous missing piece is inserted in the
text. It is this time!
There now are four different versions of the story:
- "The Impotency of Bad Karma", the original publication;
- "The Last Rise of Nick Adams", a somewhat rewritten version that
misses a piece of the original text;
- "Up, Out and Over, Roger", an early, previously unpublished, version;
- "The Last Rise of Nick Adams", the somewhat rewritten version that
includes the previous missing piece.
See the story page
and this entry
in 2011 for more information.
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Letters
by Kilgore Trout and by Farmer |
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8 Oct
2018
 It was puzzling for
a while. I searched for issue #41 of the SFWA Forum,
but
found conflicting information. As it turned out, there are two issues
that come with number 41. One of July 1975 and one of October 1975.
There would be a letter by Phil Farmer in issue #41, but in which one?
Earlier I found the issue of October, but that one only had an open letter by Philip
K. Dick addressed at Philip José Farmer.
See also the entry of August 12th this year.
Finally I found the correct issue #41 for sale, the one of July 1975.
Much to my surprise it contains not only one letter by Farmer, but two.
And also two letters by Farmer as Kilgore Trout.
The first letter by Trout is addressed at the editor of F&SF,
Edward L. Ferman: «I wish to protest the publication of a
badly mutilated version of my novel, Venus on the Half-Shell,
in The Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction.» Trout goes on
ranting,
nearly two pages, about this and other mutilations of his work.
Farmer's first letter is to withdraw his earlier done nomination of
Trout's Venus
for the Nebula Award, because of Trout's wishes.
Then again an angry letter by Kilgore Trout, where he himself withdraws
—for
several reasons— his novel Venus
on the Half-Shell from the Nebula Awards.
Trout: «I just read in the new Forum where that dunderhead,
Farmer, recommended my Venus
on the Half-Shell
for the Nebula Award. Everybody knows he ain't got no taste, and his
recommendation is no recommendation as far as I'm concerned.»
Both letters by
Trout are very funny.
Lastly the second letter by Farmer, that starts with: «Who in
hell invited Lem to be an honorary member of SFWA? This man has
consistently expressed nothing but intense scorn, disgust, and contempt
for almost all American s-f writers.»
Again, see also the entry of August 12th this year, about the dispute
between Farmer and Lem.
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Le
Noir Dessein: the eight printing in France |
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22 Sep
2018
 In France publisher Le Livre de Poche
keeps reprinting Philip José Farmer's Riverworld books.
In July this year the eight printing of Le
Noir Dessein (The Dark Design) was
released.
The period between this and its previous printing is not as short as it
used to be between printing, two or three years. This time it took
eight years after the seventh printing. But
the publisher keeps them coming it seems.
The Riverworld books haven't been published in French as ebooks.
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FarmerFan #1 |
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16 Sep
2018
 The
debut issue of the fanzine FarmerFan was
presented at FarmerCon 100/ PulpFest 2018. A fanzine in letter format
(28×21,5cm).
It contains three essays, and a very short bibliography of the pulp
publications.
But no introduction, and/or no editorial, explaining the why and how of
this fanzine. Only a piece about the writers. What is its goal? How
often will it be published?
The three essays are Farmer related, not really about or by Farmer. Two
Wold Newton Universe (WNU) articles, and the third about the title numatenu in the
Opar/Khokarsa series. Great researches, if you like these detailed
explanations.
What did not impress me much about the fanzine are the
unnumbered
pages (80 of
them), and a Table of Contents with only the titles, not the page
numbers.
The lay-out is not really attractive, it looks a bit like an old school
paper. The text typed with 1.5 rule over the full width of the page.
One of the essays, the one by Emmons, takes more than half of the
fanzine this way, with 43 pages. Why is the text not in two columns and
typed in 1 rule? Maybe in a bit smaller font?
Under each title are two book covers shown, but no further
illustrations in the fanzine. Except for some ads.
No information in Number 1 if and when the next issue will appear. I
sure hope that the lay-out of Number 2 will be more inviting.
This issue refers to the website farmerfan.com, but
the site is not updated. One of the pages you can «Purchase
or download issues of FarmerFan». You cannot.
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FarmerCon
100 programs |
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11 Sep
2018
For
FarmerCon 100, celebrating Farmer's 100th birthday, there were three
programs made of 10 pages each. The covers of the three programs have a
continuous cover illustration done by Keith Howell. Click on the
picture to see it larger. I recognize most of the characters and items
in the picture, except for three: the man and woman behind Farmer's
left arm, and the woman in the second zero. Also the two black ravens
or crows.
The three programs
contain a few
new pieces, essays by Darrell Schweitzer and Frank Schildiner, some
reprinted material and a few excerpts. It also brings "A Brief History
of FarmerCon", written by Leo
Queequeg Tincrowder,
a pseudonym Farmer had used. Why it was used now and by whom
(Michael Croteau?) is unknown to me. I do not see the point why this
pseudonym was used. The name of Tincrowder is spelled wrong, it is
Tincrowdor.
Carrots or carats?
There were also small misspellings in The Philip José Farmer
Centennial Collection.
On page 232 is mentioned the story "Don't Wash the Carrots". You do
have to wash the carrots before you can eat them, but in this case it
should be the story "Don't
Wash the Carats".
On page 471 we see 'Jonathan Somers Swift, III', as well as the name 'Jonathan Swift Somers III'.
The second version is correct.
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Wow,
finally finished adding! |
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3 Sep
2018
It
took me a long time to add all the 41 stories and 18 essays into the
Bibliography. I had to make three new story pages for the three novel
excerpts in The Philip José Farmer
Centennial Collection.
It was a lot of work these past weeks. But what a massive collection
this is! Huge, beautiful, interesting and greatly done. With a very
nice wraparound cover illustration—for both the hardcover
dustjacket
as the trade paperback cover—by Mark Wheatly. The paperback
has a much younger Farmer face. The cover shows several
scenes from Farmer's work: Riverworld,
Venus on the Half-Shell,
Opar/Khokarsa,
Tarzan, King Kong, The
Lovers (I think) and the Wold
Newton meteorite. See here the full cover.
A worthy tribute to Philip José Farmer's career. I love it!
Super!
The book is divided in
seven sections, one for each decade, starting with the 1940s, till the
2000s. The editor, Michael Croteau, gives for each decade a very
interesting synopsis of Farmer’s life and career.
I started reading the very humorous excerpt "Casting Turtles", which
led to reading the complete novel again!
You can order
this book at Meteor
House! The hardcover cost $50, and the trade
paperback $35. Plus shipping. Or you can order one of the 52
limited deluxe, lettered and signed hardcover editions.
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Received:
Tarzan
and the Dark Heart of Time |
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17 Aug
2018
Philip
José Farmer would have been very happy with this
publication, it
looks much more like a 'real' Tarzan book than the original one.
Robert R. Barrett in his Foreword:
«Ballantine originally planned to issue Tarzan and the Dark Heart of Time
in a trade paperback, which very much pleased Phil. Ballantine also
hoped to release the novel at the same time as the movie Tarzan and the Lost City
in 1998. But many things conspired to interfere with this plan. ...
Finally, Ballantine made the decision to put out the novel as a mass
market paperback and wait another year, releasing it to coincide with
Disney's animated Tarzan film.»
It was then published under the title The Dark Heart of Time.
The undervalued Ballantine
publication, has been corrected more than a little with the fantastic
beautiful hardcover and trade paperback editions of Tarzan
and the Dark Heart of Time.
The name of Tarzan is clearly in the title of the novel this time, not
in a subtitle as with the Ballantine book. And the books got a very
nice cover illustration by Mark Wheatly!
Meteor House did a great job with these editions!
You can order
this book now at Meteor
House! The hardcover cost $35, and the trade
paperback $20. I saw the hardcover also for sale at Amazon.
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New
from Meteor House, and more |
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16 Aug
2018
Meteor
House has sent me the following items:
- The Philip Jose Farmer
Centennial Collection (hardcover),
- The Philip Jose Farmer Centennial
Collection (paperback),
- Tarzan and the Dark
Heart of Time (hardcover),
- Tarzan and the Dark
Heart of Time (trade paperback),
- FarmerCon 100
programs (3 booklets),
- The first issue of the new fanzine FarmerFan,
- and also some magnets and pins with FarmerCon 100 pictures.
I hope to receive the limited deluxe hardcover of The Philip Jose Farmer Centennial
Collection
in the near future. There is a lot of work to do to add these items,
and their contents (936 pages with the collection!), in the
Bibliography. That will be done in the coming days.
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Philip
wrote Philip an open letter |
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12 Aug
2018
Early
1970s
there was a dispute, that became something like a feud in the following
years, between Philip José Farmer and Stanislaw Lem.
As far as I can tell this might have started with an essay by Lem in
the Australian fanzine SF
Commentary #22, July 1971: "Sex in Science Fiction".
In SF Commentary
#25, December 1971, Farmer wrote an essay, "A Letter to Lem".
In SF Commentary
#29, August 1972, followed by "A
Letter to Mr. Farmer" by Lem.
Stanislaw Lem had a very low opinion of the American science fiction in
general. As Phil Farmer
wrote: «...his arrogant sneering putdown of all American s-f
writers except for a few whom he damned with faint praise.»
Lem's opinion was even much lower of the use of sex in this genre, and
mentioned Farmer's work several times in this regard.
 The
dispute reached a high point when in 1973 the board of the Science
Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) elected Stanislaw Lem an honorary
member.
This was for Farmer the reason to protest firmly in an angry letter,
published in SFWA Forum
#41 of July 1975, and finally to resign his membership of the SFWA.
Farmer's protest was supported by several other authors, like Sam J.
Lundwall and Philip K. Dick.
In SFWA Forum
#41, October 1975 [note:
a second issue #41], Philip K. Dick wrote an "Open Letter to Philip
José Farmer",
in which he mostly vented his own frustration with Stanislaw Lem, and
the fact that he was "ripped off" by Polish publishers. While he was
invited to these publishers thanks to Lem.
In this same issue of SFWA Forum is a reprinted essay by Stanislaw Lem:
"Looking Down on Science Fiction (A novelist's choice for the world
worst writing)".
There was a whole controversy concerning Stanislaw Lem in the 1970s,
not only with Farmer and Dick, but many other authors as well. Next to
the above mentioned publications there are many other pieces written
about this in several magazines and fanzines. See for instance Science
Fiction Studies #12 (July 1977), #13 (November 1977) and #14
(March 1978).
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FarmerFan
fanzine |
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3 Aug
2018
Jason
Aiken, Will Emmons, and Sean Lee Levin released a fanzine, FarmerFan, at PulpFest/FarmerCon
100.
On the photo you see its first issue with a photo on the cover of Phil
made by me in 2002, my first visit to the US and meeting with my hero.
A photo that is used widely on the internet, with Wikipedia and ISFDB
for instance.
I have no idea what the contents of this issue is, other than what it
says on the cover. A copy of the first issue is on its way to me. I
will keep you informed. Also will let you know then how to get one. It
had a print run of only 40 copies.
There is no price on the cover. Maybe one can get a subscription on the
fanzine. Issue 2 should be out in December to coincide with Wold Newton
Day.
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New
Publications
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| Forthcoming Books |
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Not yet confirmed, but these
titles are mentioned in the past one or two years. All from Meteor
House:
The
Monster on Hold, written by Farmer & Win Scott
Eckert, in the summer of
2019 (?).
---
Christopher Paul Carey will write a trilogy about Kôr, son of
Hadon of Opar. Might be published in 2019-2020 (?).
---
Up
From the Bottomless Pit
No further info yet.
---
Read
more >>
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