The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom,

by Sam Moskowitz

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0883551314
• ISBN13: 9780883551318
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Hyperion Books
• Length: 269 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Flawed But Fascinating Fannish History

The science fiction criticism of Sam Moskowitz over the years never failed to invite the spleen of James Blish (a.k.a., William Atheling, Jr., 1970). And it is hard to refute Blish's basic criticism: "As for an ear for language, Moskowitz has none... His own style is deadly-- pompous, pedantic, humorless, and graceless" (27). In a similar critique of Moskowitz's style, Algis Budrys (1980) has written: "Moskowitz is a master of denotation. He wouldn't know a connotation if it snapped him on the ankle, which is something that happens quite often" (85). In other words, Moskowitz's style is mercifully free of the ravages of irony. Many of these faults are present in Moskowitz's early study of sf fandom during the 1930s, _The Immortal Storm_ (1954). (Moskowitz had a penchant for dramatic book titles.) Yet in spite of its often pompous, literate, and fannish style of writing, I found that Moskowitz nevertheless has a terrific story to tell. The book is packed with details about the fannish influence on professional sf magazines (at the time, there were just three-- _Amazing_, _Astounding_, and _Thrilling Wonder Stories_); on early fanzines and letters, often initially printed on mimeographed or hektographed paper; on the first fan sf conventions, which were often rather stormy affairs; and especially on fannish politics, which often resembled European power politics in their double-crosses and dirty trickery. The conservative Moskowitz led a band of fans who were constantly feuding with a more liberal group of fans led by Donald A. Wollheim. (Moskowitz, like Julius Ceasar, refers to himself in the third person in his account of these political struggles.) The antics of both groups remind me of the drunken misbehavior of college fraternity students on Party Weekend-- and of the dignified treatment that behavior receives in various "official histories" of this or that social fraternity. To be sure, there are later book-length treatments of fandom that are much better written: Harry Warner's _All Our Yesterdays_ (1969) and Damon Knight's _The Futurians_ (1977) come to mind. But there is still some value to Moskowitz's book, which treats a somewhat earlier period-- with a lot of fanfare and flamboyance. The book does contain a detailed, first-class index. _References_: Atheling, Jr., William. _More Issues at Hand_, ed. James Blish. Chicago: Advent, 1970. See pp. 25-28; and 35-39. Budrys, Algis. _Benchmarks: Galaxy Bookshelf_. Carbondale,IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1985, PP. 84-87.