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A review by reasie
The Artificial Man and Other Stories by Clare Winger Harris
5.0
It's great to see a collection of stories by a lesser-known pulp writer, and Clare Winger Harris may be the first woman to publish science fiction stories under her own name. Also, she lived in greater Cleveland! The editor's intro provides a little background on the historical Clare, who is most tantalizingly elusive. We know she lived in Lakewood, Ohio. She had three sons. Her father and her husband were engineers. From her writing, we know that she had an obsession with the macro vs. micro. Rare moments of domesticity for her characters are almost always pleasant with witty repartee.
Her stories star men, and have male action at the center, but there is almost always a wife, mother, daughter or love interest at his side, and these women enter the narrative boldly and with thoughtful opinions and decisive action. Aside from an occasional "explainer" ("Yes, women used to be bad at this but now a days it's common!" sorts of lines that I wonder weren't prompted by editorial meddling) she doesn't directly address gender issues in her stories, more concerned with THE SCIENCE THO.
If at times the subject matter is cringingly ableist (as in "The Artificial Man") or racist (In "The Ape Cycle") she does temper the "fear of the other" so common in early pulp fiction with deliberate strokes pointing out the other's point of view. (The artificial man didn't HAVE to be driven mad by his disability. His own ablism fed his actions.) And it is sometimes startling to remember just how old these stories are. I found myself groaning over her 1950s sensibilities and then remembering that she's writing in the 1920s and 1930s and the 1950s are her FUTURE.
I think this volume will be an important edition to the growing awareness and study of early pulp writers. My one complaint is I would have liked a publishing history note on each story.
Her stories star men, and have male action at the center, but there is almost always a wife, mother, daughter or love interest at his side, and these women enter the narrative boldly and with thoughtful opinions and decisive action. Aside from an occasional "explainer" ("Yes, women used to be bad at this but now a days it's common!" sorts of lines that I wonder weren't prompted by editorial meddling) she doesn't directly address gender issues in her stories, more concerned with THE SCIENCE THO.
If at times the subject matter is cringingly ableist (as in "The Artificial Man") or racist (In "The Ape Cycle") she does temper the "fear of the other" so common in early pulp fiction with deliberate strokes pointing out the other's point of view. (The artificial man didn't HAVE to be driven mad by his disability. His own ablism fed his actions.) And it is sometimes startling to remember just how old these stories are. I found myself groaning over her 1950s sensibilities and then remembering that she's writing in the 1920s and 1930s and the 1950s are her FUTURE.
I think this volume will be an important edition to the growing awareness and study of early pulp writers. My one complaint is I would have liked a publishing history note on each story.