Frederik Pohl Biography
(1919– ), The Space Merchants, Search the Sky, Gladiator-at-Law, Slave Ship, Alternating Currents
American science fictionwriter, born in New York, educated at schools in the Brooklyn area. After working as a publisher's editor and literary agent, he became a freelance writer in 1953. Pohl's earliest novels, The Space Merchants (1953), Search the Sky (1954), and Gladiator-at-Law (1955), all written with C. M. Kornbluth, are entertaining futuristic satires on American society. Among his other works of the 1950s are the novel Slave Ship (1957) and the short stories of Alternating Currents (1954) and The Man Who Ate the World (1960). Space exploration motivated by greed is a recurrent theme in his later novels, notable examples being The Gold at the Starbow's End (1972), Gateway (1977), and JEM (1979); among Gateway's numerous sequels are The Annals of Heechee (1988) and The Gateway Trip (1990). Pohl's other publications include Turn Left at Thursday (1961), Syzygy (1981), Years of the City (1984), and The Voices of Heaven (1994). The Way the Future Was (1978) is an autobiography.
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Literature Reference: American Literature, English Literature, Classics & Modern FictionEncyclopedia of Literature: Ellis’ [Edith Mary Pargeter] ‘Peters Biography to Portrait of Dora (Portrait de Dora)