C. M. Kornbluth
C. M. Kornbluth, born Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1923, was a notable figure in the mid-20th century science fiction landscape, particularly recognized for his contributions during the early years of the genre. He was part of the Futurian Society in New York City, a collective of influential science fiction writers. Kornbluth published his first story at the age of 17 and went on to create a substantial body of work, contributing thirty-five stories to various magazines in just a few years. After serving in World War II, he returned to science fiction in 1949 with renewed vigor, publishing under his own name and collaborating with other prominent writers like Frederick Pohl.
Kornbluth's most significant work, "The Space Merchants" (1953), critiqued advertising's impact on society and became a landmark piece in science fiction literature for its focus on behavioral science and media influence. Throughout his career, he often collaborated with Pohl, producing several notable novels that explored themes of corporate power and social dynamics. Tragically, Kornbluth's life was cut short in 1958 due to a heart attack. His legacy continues to be recognized for its innovation and commentary on societal trends, making him a respected figure in the genre's history.
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C. M. Kornbluth
Author
- Born: July 23, 1923
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: March 21, 1958
- Place of death: Waverly, New York
Biography
Cyril M. Kornbluth was the child prodigy among an influential group of science-fiction writers in New York City known as the Futurian Society. Born in New York in 1923, he discovered the group by reading its members’ stories in the numerous science-fiction magazines of the 1930’s. In 1940, at the age of 17, he submitted a story of his own, “Stepson of Mars,” written under a pseudonym in collaboration with Richard Wilson.
At that time, several of the New York Futurians launched science-fiction magazines of their own and solicited stories from the membership. Kornbluth produced thirty-five stories for these magazines between 1940 and 1942, all under various pseudonyms. In 1943, he married fellow science-fiction fan Mary Byers, and enlisted in the army, originally as a machinist. Reassigned to an infantry unit, Kornbluth found himself wielding a heavy machine gun in the Battle of the Bulge.
After World War II, Kornbluth stayed away from science fiction for a few years, studying at the University of Chicago without taking a degree and turning to journalism to support himself and his wife. When he did return to science fiction in 1949, it was with renewed confidence and maturity, and this time he published under his own name. Much of his work over the remaining decade of his life was in collaboration; of the sixteen novels Kornbluth wrote in the 1950’s, only three were his alone. His fellow writers began to look at Kornbluth as a story doctor, not only resurrecting unfinished stories by others but making them better.
With Judith Merril he wrote Outpost Mars (1952), and Gunner Cade (1952); with Frederick Pohl, he wrote the novel that fixed his reputation among science-fiction historians, The Space Merchants (1953). This novel, a projection of trends Pohl and Kornbluth saw in American culture, depicted a future in which advertising agencies determined virtually all events by shaping public attitudes. Critics hailed the novel as a milestone in a genre which previously had projected advances only in the hard sciences, like chemistry and physics; here, Kornbluth and Pohl examined developments in behavioral science and the mass media.
After a less successful collaboration with Pohl in Search the Sky (1954), Kornbluth again extrapolated a vast corporate America of the future, literalizing the phrase “an army of lawyers” in a third collaboration with Pohl, Gladiator at Law (1955). His final collaboration with Pohl, Wolfbane (1959), projects a mass-mind earth culture enslaved by aliens but peppered with a few individualists reviled as “wolves,” who offer hope for mankind’s survival. Wolfbane was published posthumously. On March 21, 1958, while running to catch a train after overexertion from snow shoveling, Kornbluth was stricken by a heart attack and died.