Earth for Inspiration: And Other Stories - Paperback

by Clifford D. Simak (Author), David W. Wixon (Introduction by)

From tales of alien invasions and intergalactic war to visions of dystopian tomorrows, an astonishing collection from one of literary science fiction's all-time greats, Hugo Award winner Clifford D. Simak.

The twentieth century's so-called golden age of science fiction produced many great writers--including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein--yet none is greater than Clifford D. Simak, named Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His bold visions of and ingenious speculations about humankind's future, always enriched with empathy and a deep understanding of human strengths, foibles, and failings, have stood the test of time, remaining powerful, affecting, and relevant.

This sterling collection of fantastic stories by the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-
winning master showcases some of Simak's finest short fiction, from his earliest published tales to his later masterworks. In the wry and wonderful title story, a science fiction writer of the far future returns to a nearly abandoned Earth in search of inspiration--and finds that the dying planet holds more wonder than he bargained for. The interdimensional invasion Simak imagines in "Hellhounds of the Cosmos" displays a conceptual ingenuity not typically seen in speculative fiction prior to World War II. And other tales in this marvelous compendium offer a wide range of wonders, from the surrender terms dictated by a cute and cuddly alien enemy and a get-rich-quick real-estate scam originating from another galaxy to the truth behind a series of strange disappearances on Jupiter and an explosion of ladybugs in a salesman's suburban home--an infestation quite possibly not of this Earth.

Whether he's rocketing us to another galaxy, leading us through the otherworldly shadows of small-town America, or preparing us for a Wild West shootout, every literary outing with Simak is an excursion to remember.

Author Biography

During his fifty-five-year career, CLIFFORD D. SIMAK produced some of the most iconic science fiction stories ever written. Born in 1904 on a farm in southwestern Wisconsin, Simak got a job at a small-town newspaper in 1929 and eventually became news editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, writing fiction in his spare time.

Simak was best known for the book City, a reaction to the horrors of World War II, and for his novel Way Station. In 1953 City was awarded the International Fantasy Award, and in following years, Simak won three Hugo Awards and a Nebula Award. In 1977 he became the third Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and before his death in 1988, he was named one of three inaugural winners of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

DAVID W. WIXON was a close friend of Clifford D. Simak's. As Simak's health declined, Wixon, already familiar with science fiction publishing, began more and more to handle such things as his friend's business correspondence and contract matters. Named literary executor of the estate after Simak's death, Wixon began a long-term project to secure the rights to all of Simak's stories and find a way to make them available to readers who, given the fifty-five-year span of Simak's writing career, might never have gotten the chance to enjoy all of his short fiction. Along the way, Wixon also read the author's surviving journals and rejected manuscripts, which made him uniquely able to provide Simak's readers with interesting and thought-provoking commentary that sheds new light on the work and thought of a great writer.