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Written in 1997 by Ryan Farinha, university of colorado student.
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Alfred Bester
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One of the most difficult things to teach people outside the arts . . . and in the arts as well . . . is that the important ingredient in the artist is not talent, technique, genius or luck--the most important ingredient is himself.
So says science fiction writer Alfred Bester, who believed both that writers should reflect on their inwardness, and that this inwardness would lead to the writer's personal character or charm. This reflection enables writers to discover new frontiers of personal thought. Bester's impetus for this particular belief comes from science fiction stories that are products of writers who are not true to themselves or their readers. These "hack writers" as Bester calls them have "no sense of dramatic proportion, no principles of human behavior . . . and a wooden ear for dialogue." These "gimmicky stories" invaded his favorite genre of literary work--science fiction.
Bester grew up on Manhattan Island and was a product of the New York Public School System. He believed in being a Renaissance Man, so he studied music and art classes while majoring in science at University of Pennsylvania. He then diversified even more by attending law school at Columbia University. He did not pursue a career in either law or science, and he comically claims that both the science and law professionals are pleased with his decision.
After finishing school, I drifted into writing. Drift is the only word. Put any man at loose ends and he invariably starts to write a book.
He began as a science fiction writer and sold what he called "half a dozen miserable stories by the grace of two kindly editors at Standard Magazines who enjoyed discussing James Joyce with me and bought my stories out of pity." When these two generous editors went to work for Superman Comics they took Bester with them, and he claims these two people made him a writer. They made such a good writer of him that he took a better job opportunity writing and directing radio shows like "Charlie Chan," "Nick Carter," and "The Shadow." He stayed with radio for seven years then switched to television for three years "I wrote scripts until I began to dream in camera shots." Throughout his radio and television careers, Bester could not find the time to read science fiction. Horace Gold, the newly appointed editor of Galaxy magazine and a friend of Bester, asked Bester to write for the magazine. At first, Bester scoffed at the idea because he was not a very successful science ficition writer when he tried it years earlier, but he was not happy with his present job, which was writing for the Paul Winchell television show. "I was putting in a ten day week on my comedy show . . . they're always a bitch to write . . . and hardly knew what science fiction meant."
Bester was fired from the Winchell show because Horace talked him into writing a few science fiction stories. He was not upset about losing his job as a television comedy writer. After his firing, Bester decided to take a vacation to do some surf-fishing, and during this vacation, he wrote his first novel The Demolished Man. The year was 1953 and the novel's "concern for character, its style, and its pyrotechnical tricks made it an instant success." Bester thinks the novel's success comes from his attitude toward people and life.
I believe that everyone is compelled, but no one is bad. I believe that everyone has greatness in him, but few of us have the opportunity to fulfill ourselves. I believe that everyone has love in him, but most of our loves are frustrated. I believe that man is the unique creation of nature, but am capable of believing in an even more perfect creation. I believe that every hope and aspiration, and every weakness and vice that I have, I share with all my brothers in world . . . and all the world is my brother.
Four years later he published his second book The Stars My Destination, which was being described as "Bester's science fiction rendering of the Count of Monte Cristo in a society based on teleportation." Bester also wrote short science fiction stories such as "5,271,009," "Hobson's Choice," "The Man Who Murdered Mohammed," "The Pi Man," "Star Light,
Star Bright," "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To," and "Fondly Fahrenheit." Like his previous stories, Bester uses individuals instead of an entire society to tell his tales of human character and relationships. Bester's lack of pretentious characters and gimmick plots help reflect his view of humanity.
Science fiction is a form of literature palatable only in our moments of leisure, calm, euphoria. It's not Escape Fiction; it's Arrest Fiction. I use the word "arrest" in the sense of arresting or striking attention . . . to excite, stimulate, enlarge. No one wants to read Arrest Fiction when he's already excited; we can only enjoy it when we're calm and euphoric.
Alfred Bester died in 1987. He posthumously won the Science Fiction Writers Association's Grand Master Award in 1988.
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