Alfred Bester's classic short stories and the canonical novel The Stars My Destination made him a science fiction legend. Fans and scholars praise him as a genre-bending pioneer and cyberpunk forefather. Writers like Neil Gaiman and William Gibson celebrate his prophetic vision and stylistic innovations. Jad Smith traces the career of the unlikeliest of SF icons. Winner of the first Hugo Award for The Demolished Man, Bester also worked in comics, radio, and TV, and his intermittent SF writing led some critics to brand him a dabbler. In the 1960s, however, New Wave writers championed his work, and his reputation grew. Smith follows Bester's journey from consummate outsider to an artist venerated for foundational works that influenced the New Wave and cyberpunk revolutions. He also explores the little-known roots of a wayward journey fueled by curiosity, disappointment with the SF mainstream, and an artist's determination to go his own way.
| Cover Title page Contents Acknowledgments Introduction. Alfred Bester: The Insider's Outsider Chapter 1. Beginnings Early Life and First Stories Chapter 2. Of Things to Come: The Astounding and Unknown Stories Chapter 3. Comics, Radio, and the Return to SF Chapter 4. The Eureka Years Chapter 5. Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright Chapter 6. Hiatus and Search for a New Style Conclusion An Alfred Bester Bibliography Notes Bibliography of Secondary Sources Index | "Readable, knowledgeable, insightful, and altogether a success."—James Gunn
"This volume is a smart, compact examination of a writer who deserves more attention."— Science Fiction Studies

"With this book Professor Smith has made another lively contribution to understanding science fiction and its development, proving that an academic and scholarly overview can also be of interest and value to the 'fan'."— Camera Obscura

| Jad Smith is an associate professor of English at Eastern Illinois University and the author of John Brunner .