The Demolished Man (HC)

Alfred Bester's landmark science fiction novel, set in a future where telepathy is commonplace—except for one man who refuses to have his mind read. A psychological cat-and-mouse game that redefined the boundaries of the genre and remains a towering achievement in speculative fiction.

ALFRED BESTER was born in New York in 1913. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, he sold several stories to Thrilling Wonder Stories in the early 194s. He then embarked on a career as a scripter for comics, radio, and television, where he worked on such classic characters as Superman, Batman, Nick Carter, Charlie Chan, Tom Corbett, and the Shadow. In the 195s, he returned to prose, publishing several short stories and two brilliant, seminal works, The Demolished Man (which was the first winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel) and The Stars My Destination, In the late 1950s, he wrote travel articles for Holiday magazine, and eventually became their Senior Literary Editor, keeping the position until the magazine folded in the 197s. In 1974, he once again came back to writing science fiction with the novels The Computer Connection, Golem1, and The Deceivers, and numerous short stories. A collection of his short stories, Virtual Unrealities, was published in 1997. After being a New Yorker all his life, he died in Pennsylvania in 1987, but not before he was honored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America with a Grandmaster Award.