Theodore Sturgeon: February 26, 1918--May 8. 1985

I have just discovered great news for those who, like me, think Ted Sturgeon is one of the great American short story writers--regardless of genre. North Atlantic Books is finished with its monumental project--The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon--which will include all of the short stories of Ted Sturgeon, including a number of unpublished tales. What started out as a projected ten volume series is now complete--in thirteen volumes.

I have the first volume: The Ultimate Egoist: Volume 1. It contains over 40 short stories, plus forewords by Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Gene Wolfe, all of whom have a few great stories of their own out there. At the end of the volume are some thirty pages of story notes on many of the stories. In the "Editor's Note," Paul Williams writes, "The volumes and the stories within the volumes are organized chronologically by order of composition (in so far as it can be determined). The earliest volume (The Ultimate Egoist) contains stories written between the end of 1937 and the beginning of 1940. Some are being published here for the first time; many others are appearing for the first time in book form." The copyright date for Volume 1 is 1994, seventeen years ago; this clearly has not been a rushed assignment.

I am looking forward to spending a few years slowly working my way through the series, reacquainting myself with such favorites as "Bianca's Hands," "Thunder and Roses," "Killdozer," "The Microcosmic God," "A Saucer of Loneliness," "The Silken-Swift," and "A Way of Thinking," and becoming acquainted with many that I've never read or have read so long ago that it will be like reading them for the first time.

The web site for the publisher of the series is http://tinyurl.com/6hry854.

In addition, Vintage Books is bringing out Sturgeon's major novels.


A great feast is in store for us.