Philip José Farmer (1918–2009)
Author of To Your Scattered Bodies Go
About the Author
Philip José Farmer was born in North Terre Haute, Indiana on January 26, 1918. He worked in a steel mill while attending Bradley University at night and writing in his spare time. In 1952, his story The Lovers, in which a human has sex with an alien, was published in a pulp magazine called show more Startling Stories and won him the Hugo Award in 1953 for most promising new author. He quit his job to become a full-time writer, but a string of misfortunes eventually forced him to take jobs as a manual laborer. He worked as a technical writer from 1956 to 1970, but continued writing science fiction. He finally found success in the 1960's with the Riverworld series. He wrote more than 75 books throughout his lifetime including the Dayworld series and the World of Tiers series. He also wrote short stories. He won the Hugo award for best novella in 1968 for Riders of the Purple Wage and for best novel in 1972 for To Your Scattered Bodies Go. In 1988, he was the recipient of the Writers of the Past Award and the Nova for best book for Riverworld. In 2001 he was awarded the Grand Master Award and the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award. He died on February 25, 2009 at the age of 91. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Lars-Olov Strandberg, Fabula77, Denmark, 1977. Copyright © Lars-Olov Strandberg
Series
Works by Philip José Farmer
The World of Tiers, Volume 1 (Maker of Universes, Gates of Creation, Private Cosmos) (1986) 244 copies
The World of Tiers, Volume 2 (Lavalite World, Behind the Walls of Terra, More than Fire) (1997) 121 copies
The World of Tiers, Volume 2 (A Private Cosmos, Behind the Walls of Terra, The Lavalite World) (1977) 106 copies
Riverworld Series 1-4 (To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Fabulous Riverboat, Dark Design, Magic Labyrinth) (1971) 32 copies
The World of Tiers, Volume 2 (Behind the Walls of Terra, The Lavalite World, Red Orc’s Rage, More Than Fire) (2017) 16 copies
The Lovers * Dark Is the Sun * Riders of the Purple Wage: Three Powerful Science Fiction Classics (2017) 15 copies
Sail On! Sail On! 8 copies
Unterwegs in die Welt von morgen: Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt / Die Irrfahrten des Mr. Green (1990) 8 copies
Desígnio negro - 2 5 copies
Riverworld Series 1-6 (To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Fabulous Riverboat, Dark Design, Magic Labyrinth, Gods of… (1983) 5 copies
Strade senza uscita — Author — 4 copies
The Shadow Of Space 4 copies
The God Business [novella] 4 copies
Desígnio negro - 1 4 copies
The King of the Beasts 4 copies
O labirinto mágico - 3 3 copies
O labirinto mágico - 2 3 copies
O labirinto mágico - 1 3 copies
One Down, One to Go {short story} 3 copies
O labirinto mágico 3 copies
A Scarletin Study [novelette] 3 copies
Farmer, Phillip Jose 3 copies
La Torre Negra, El Abismo, Voumen 2 copies
Regresso ao Mundo do Rio 2 2 copies
Regresso ao Mundo do Rio 1 2 copies
Day of the Great Shout [short story] 2 copies
Monolog [short story] 2 copies
World of Tiers, The: Volume 2 2 copies
Heel 2 copies
The Biological Revolt 2 copies
Farmerphile #1 (July 2005) 2 copies
The Black Tower 2 copies
Savage Shadow 2 copies
Mother Earth Wants You [short story] 2 copies
Nobody’s Perfect [short story] 2 copies
Uproar In Acheron 2 copies
The World of Tiers Volume One: The Maker of Universes, The Gates of Creation, and A Private Cosmos 2 copies
Three Powerful Science Fiction Classics: The Lovers, Dark Is the Sun, and Riders of the Purple Wage 2 copies
The Sumerian Oath [short fiction] 2 copies
Toward The Beloved City 2 copies
The Volcano [short story] 2 copies
Flight to Opar 1 copy
Beyond the Walls of Terra 1 copy
A Barnstormer in Oz 1 copy
Dare 1 copy
Dark is the Sun 1 copy
Dayworld Rebel 1 copy
Greatheart Silver 1 copy
The Gates of Creation 1 copy
Ο δημιουργός των κόσμων 1 copy
Hadon of Ancient Opar 1 copy
Inside Outside 1 copy
The Lavalite World 1 copy
Lord of the Trees 1 copy
Autograph, (S.F. Writer), Typescript for "Rip Van Winkle's Plurial Dream," with cut Signature 1 copy
Down in the Black Gang 1 copy
The Unreasononing Mask 1 copy
Oi Erastes 1 copy
The Twinkled Like Jewels 1 copy
Universos Paralelos Livro 1 1 copy
Un amore a Siddo 1 copy
Strange Fantasy 1 copy
The World of Tiers: Volume Two. A Private Cosmos; Behind the Walls of Terra; The Lavalite World. 1 copy
Universos paralelos 1 copy
Amor no cosmos 1 copy
After the Apocalyptic War 1 copy
Poarta 1 copy
Il mondo di lavalite 1 copy
O Labirinto Mágico I Livro 3 1 copy
Il sistema Dayworld 1 copy
Il fiume della vita 1 copy
Ένας ιδιωτικός κόσμος 1 copy
Pianeta d'aria (Urania) 1 copy
Hunter’s Moon [short story] 1 copy
The Last Rise Of Nick Adams 1 copy
The Freshman 1 copy
O Construtor de Universos 1 copy
Day of the Great Shout 1 copy
Hador of Ancient Opar 1 copy
The World of Tiers 2 hb 1 copy
Lord Tyger 1 copy
Mundo sem morte 1 copy
Viagem para além da morte 1 copy
1973 1 copy
Only Who Can Make A Tree? 1 copy
Ljubavnici 1 copy
The Wounded [short story] 1 copy
Prometheus 1 copy
Futuro 1 copy
The Return of Greatheart Silver or The Secret Life of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm [Greatheart Silver] 1 copy
Attitudes [short story] 1 copy
A Few Miles [short story] 1 copy
Spiders of the Purple Mage 1 copy
Prometheus [short story] 1 copy
Regresso ao mundo do rio - 2 1 copy
Regresso ao mundo do rio - 1 1 copy
Associated Works
Dangerous Visions: 33 Original Stories — Contributor — 1,894 copies
Alien Sex: 19 Tales by the Masters of Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy (1990) — Contributor — 483 copies
Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, Volume 6: Neanderthals (1987) — Contributor — 63 copies
The Mammoth Book of New World Science Fiction: Short Novels of the 1960's (The Mammoth Book Series) (1991) — Author — 60 copies
And walk now gently through the fire, and other science fiction stories (1972) — Contributor — 60 copies
A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959 : The Greatest Stories of the Decade (1996) — Contributor — 56 copies
Children of Infinity: Original Science Fiction Stories for Young Readers (1973) — Contributor — 44 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction October 1990, Vol. 79, No. 4 (1990) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction December 1974, Vol. 47, No. 6 (1974) — Contributor — 17 copies
Van Jules Verne tot Isaac Asimov de vijftig beste science fiction verhalen (1981) — Contributor — 15 copies
Hollywood Ghosts: Haunting, Spine-Chilling Stories from America's Film Capital (American Ghost Series) (1991) — Contributor — 12 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction October 1960, Vol. 19, No. 4 (1960) — Author — 11 copies
Special Wonder: The Anthony Boucher Memorial Anthology of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1970) — Contributor — 9 copies
Worlds of If Science Fiction 155, July/August 1971 (Vol. 20, No. 12) (1971) — Contributor — 6 copies
Monolith 003 : Almanah Znanstveno-fantasticne Knjizevnosti (Monolith, No. 003) (2000) — Contributor — 3 copies
Once and future tales; from the Magazine of fantasy and science fiction (1968) — Contributor — 3 copies
Fantastic Universe October 1954 — Contributor — 2 copies
Den ¤elektriske myre og andre science fiction-fortællinger (1984) — Author, some editions — 2 copies
Strange Fantasy #8 Spring '69 featuring Some Fabulous Yonder — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Trout, Kilgore (pseudonym)
Somers, Jonathan Swift, III (pseudonym)
Bird, Cordwainer (pseudonym) - Birthdate
- 1918-01-26
- Date of death
- 2009-02-25
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- North Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, USA
- Place of death
- Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois, USA
- Places of residence
- Syracuse, New York, USA
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA - Education
- University of Missouri
Bradley Polytechnical Institute
Bradley University (B.A. | English | 1950) - Occupations
- power-line worker
technical writer (defense industry)
steel mill laborer
science fiction writer - Organizations
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- Awards and honors
- Hugo (New SF Author or Artist ∙ 1953)
SFWA Grand Master (2000)
World Fantasy Award (Lifetime Achievement ∙ 2001) - Short biography
- Born in Indiana in 1918, he had to earn a very young living. He attended evening classes and obtained his BA in letters in 1950. He is now one of the great figures of American science fiction and is read all over the world. (Thanks, Google Translation)Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories.
Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the World of Tiers (1965–93) and Riverworld (1971–83) series. He is noted for the pioneering use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for, and reworking of, the lore of celebrated pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters. Farmer often mixed real and classic fictional characters and worlds and real and fake authors as epitomized by his Wold Newton family group of books. These tie all classic fictional characters together as real people and blood relatives resulting from an alien conspiracy. Such works as The Other Log of Phileas Fogg (1973) and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973) are early examples of literary mashup.
Literary critic Leslie Fiedler compared Farmer to Ray Bradbury as both being "provincial American eccentrics" who "strain at the classic limits of the [science fiction] form," but found Farmer distinctive in that he "manages to be at once naive and sophisticated in his odd blending of theology, pornography, and adventure."
Members
Discussions
Dark is the Sun by Philip José Farmer in Science Fiction Fans (January 2012)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 335
- Also by
- 119
- Members
- 32,768
- Popularity
- #589
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 406
- ISBNs
- 862
- Languages
- 20
- Favorited
- 76