Books › I. Asimov
I. Asimov
a memoir
609 pages
A warm, conversational sit-down with one of the twentieth century's most prolific and expansive minds.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels less like studying a historical document and more like pulling up a chair next to a brilliant, talkative friend. The pace is steady and inviting, structured topically rather than strictly chronologically, allowing the narrative to flow naturally through fascinating anecdotes of the golden age of science fiction. The mood is overwhelmingly warm, nostalgic, and intellectually vibrant, colored by the author's trademark blend of immense self-confidence and charming self-deprecation. The prose is famously clear and unadorned, prioritizing direct communication and storytelling over stylistic flourish. It is a deeply comforting and inspiring read, perfect for anyone who loves classic sci-fi, literary history, or simply the company of a relentlessly curious mind reflecting on a life devoted entirely to the joy of writing.
- Mood
- warm
- reflective
- intellectually curious
- anecdotal
- Tone
- candid
- exuberant
- wry
- nostalgic
- conversational
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the golden age of science fiction · a life of the mind · creative compulsion · literary friendships · twentieth-century intellectual history
- The writing
- Clear, unpretentious, and highly conversational, reading exactly like a brilliant uncle telling stories across a dinner table.
- The arc
- Moves from the eager ambition of a young pulp writer to the contented, expansive reflections of a literary giant looking back on a life well-lived.
- Who it's for
- Fans of classic science fiction and readers who love spending time with a relentlessly curious, unapologetically confident, and deeply humane mind.
Content notes
- illness
- aging
- death of friends
About the book
Isaac Asimov was one of our most beloved authors, and when he died in 1992 at the age of seventy-two he left behind an unparalleled legacy of thought and imagination. In a career that lasted more than fifty years, he wrote more than 470 books and innumerable articles and short stories, winning the hearts of millions of readers around the world. Perhaps best known as one of science fiction's founding fathers, he wrote the novels that defined the genre and went on to become its all-time bestselling voice.
But more than that, Isaac Asimov was one of the most wide-ranging minds of this century, and he earned the nickname the Great Explainer for his nonfiction works on subjects ranging from the nature of the universe to Byron's Don Juan. In these memoirs, he looks back on a long and very full life, and discusses subjects he has never before addressed. Exuberant, topically arranged, and richly anecdotal, I. Asimov shines with the author's incomparable personality
The story of Isaac Asimov's life is an illustrious twentieth-century odyssey. The beginnings of his writing career were the beginnings of science fiction, and he writes of that time - the golden age of pulp fiction - with warmth and candor. As Asimov's fame grew, so did his contacts with other science-fiction writers, and his circle of friends became a veritable Who's Who of science-fiction greats. He reminisces fondly about the people who played important roles in his life, among them Arthur C.
Clarke, Frederik Pohl, John W. Campbell, Jr., Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Clifford Simak, Harlan Ellison, Ben Bova, Lester and Judy-Lynn del Rey, Robert Silverberg, and Martin Greenberg
A man of great humor, bonhomie, and vision, Asimov made friends in all walks of life and traded ideas with some of the great minds of his time. His renown as a science-fiction writer and disseminator of modern scientific thought attracted speaking invitations of all kinds, and I. Asimov brims with delightful (and delightfully embarrassing) vignettes from a lifetime of public oration.
Description from Open Library.
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