Henry Kuttner

From Free net encyclopedia

Henry Kuttner (April 7 1915 - February 4 1958) was a science fiction author born in Los Angeles, California. As a young man he worked for a literary agency before selling his first story, "The Graveyard Rats", to Weird Tales in 1936.

1 Kuttner and Moore
2 Influence
- 2.1 Later life
- 2.2 Partial Bibliography
3 External links
4 Pseudonyms

[edit]

Kuttner and Moore

He was known for his literary prose and worked in close collaboration with his wife, C. L. Moore. They met through their association with the Lovecraft Circle, a group of writers and fans who corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft. Their work together spanned the 1940's and 1950's and most of the work was credited to pseudonyms, mainly Lewis Padgett and Laurence O'Donnell. Both freely admitted that one reason they worked so much together was because his page rate was higher than hers. In fact, several people have written or said that she wrote three stories which were published under his name. "Clash by Night" and The Portal in the Picture a.k.a Beyond Earth's Gates have both been alleged to have been written by her, and the article on Moore in the Wikipedia lists The Mask of Circe as by her, when most editions have had his name as the author. The reader should be cautious about accepting these definitively as the referred-to three.

L. Sprague de Camp, who knew Kuttner and Moore well, has stated that their collaboration was so intensive that, after a story was completed, it was often impossible for either Kuttner or Moore to recall who had written which portions. According to de Camp, it was typical for either partner to break off from a story in mid-paragraph or even mid-sentence, with the latest page of the manuscript still in the typewriter. The other spouse would routinely continue the story where the first had left off. They alternated in this manner as many times as necessary until the story was finished.

[edit]

Influence

Marion Zimmer Bradley is among many authors who have cited him as an influence. Roger Zelazny has explicitly talked about the influence of The Dark World on his Amber series as is discussed in the article on the subject. There is a problem when you discuss this, however, which is directly related to Kuttner's work with his wife. Their collaboration makes it difficult to identify who was more influential as even their fans are unsure who wrote what influenced them.

Kuttner's friend Richard Matheson dedicated his 1954 novel I Am Legend to Kuttner, with thanks for his help and encouragement.

[edit]

Later life

Henry Kuttner spent the middle 50's getting his masters degree before dying of a heart attack in 1958.

[edit]

Partial Bibliography

Short Stories:

The Graveyard Rats (1936)
Thunder in the Dawn (1938)
Spawn of Dagon (1939)
Beyond the Phoenix (1939)
Dragon Moon (1940)
Mimsy were the Borogoves (1943)
Clash by Night (with C. L. Moore) (1943)
The Proud Robot (1943)
The Time Locker (1943)
Gallegher Plus (1943)
Nothing but Gingerbread Left (1943)
The Twonky (1940s?) - adapted for film[1] in 1953
The World is Mine (1943)
Ex Machina (1948)

Fixups

Mutant (the Baldie stories) (1953)
Robots Have No Tails (the Gallegher stories) (1952)

Novels

The Fairy Chessmen
Dr. Cyclops (1940)
Valley of the Flame (1946)
The Dark World (1946)
The Portal in the Picture a.k.a. Beyond Earth's Gates (with C. L. Moore) (1946)
Fury, (1947)
The Time Axis (1948)
The Well of the Worlds (1952)