Case and the Dreamer Volume XIII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon

by Sturgeon, Theodore; Sturgeon, Noel; Beagle, Peter S.; Notkin, Debbie; Williams, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781556439346
• ISBN10: 1556439342
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-09-28
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Summary

James Blish called him the "finest conscious artist science fiction ever produced." Kurt Vonnegut based the famous character Kilgore Trout on him. And such luminaries as Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, and Octavia Butler have hailed him as a mentor. Theodore Sturgeon was both a popular favourite and a writer's writer, carving out a singular place in the literary landscape based on his masterful wordplay, conceptual daring, and narrative drive. Sturgeon's sardonic sensibility and his skill at interweaving important social issues such as sex-including gay themes-and war into his stories are evident in all of his work, regardless of genre. Case and the Dreamer displays Sturgeon's gifts at their peak. The book brings together his last stories, written between 1972 and 1983. They include "The Country of Afterward," a sexually explicit story Sturgeon had been unable to write earlier in his career, and the title story, about an encounter with a transpatial being that is also a meditation on love. Several previously unpublished stories are included, as well as his final one, "Grizzly", a poignant take on the lung disease that killed him two years later. Noted critic and anthologist Paul Williams contextualizes Sturgeon as both man and artist in an illuminating afterword, and the book includes an index to the stories in all thirteen volumes.

Author Biography

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is ranked with Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke in the pantheon of science fiction writers. He wrote several Star Trek episodes, including one that introduced the legendary Vulcan hand greeting and the phrase “Live long and prosper.”

Table of Contents

Foreword: Theodore Sturgeon and The Last Unicorn	p. xi
Foreword: Lifelong Passion: Theodore Sturgeon's Fiction	p. xv
Tuesday are Worse	p. 3
Case and the Dreamer	p. 11
Agnes, Accent and Access	p. 55
Ingenious Aylmer	p. 71
The Sheriff of Chayute	p. 73
The Mysterium	p. 87
"I Love Maple Walnut"	p. 101
Blue Butter	p. 103
The Singsong of Cecily Snow	p. 111
Harry's Note	p. 117
Time Warp	p. 135
The Country of Afterward	p. 157
Like Yesterday	p. 179
Why Dolphins Don't Bite	p. 919
Vengeance Is	p. 255
Seasoning	p. 263
Not an Affair	p. 275
Black Moccasins	p. 297
The Trick	p. 303
Grizzly	p. 317
Afterward: Theodore Sturgeon: Storyteller	p. 327
Story Notes	p. 355
Index of Stories in The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon	p. 367
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