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I. Asimov: A Memoir

Authors:
Isaac Asimov (author), Al Nagy (covers) and Jill Krementz (covers)
Language:
English
Original language:
English
Publisher:
Bantam Books
Category:
Autobiography
Publication year:
1995
Original publication year:
1994
ISBN:
0-553-56997-X
Synopsis:

This is Asimov's third and last autobiography, started in early 1990 after a complicated operation, and finished in May 1990 (Asimov died in 1992). His two previous autobiographies are called In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt, and their titles, Asimov tells in this book, are from a poem by Asimov himself:

"In memory yet green, in joy still felt
The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
We triumph; Life's disasters are undealt,
And while all else is old, the world is new."

From this, Asimov wanted to call this third volume The Scenes of Life, but sadly that title didn't survive editorial tampering.

Review:

This is a more or less chronological account of Asimov's life, arranged in 166 smallish chapters, each dealing with a different subject or person (Asimov had a lot of well-known friends), and everything is thoroughly entertaining. If you pick up this book, I promise you'll have a hard time putting it down.

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Images:
Back of I. Asimov.Spine of I. Asimov.Front of I. Asimov.
Table of Contents:
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  • Introduction
  1. Infant Prodigy?
  2. My Father
  3. My Mother
  4. Marcia
  5. Religion
  6. My Name
  7. Anti-Semitism
  8. Library
  9. Bookworm
  10. School
  11. Growing Up
  12. Long Hours
  13. Pulp Fiction
  14. Science Fiction
  15. Beginning to Write
  16. Humiliation
  17. Failure
  18. The Futurians
  19. Frederik Pohl
  20. Cyril M. Kornbluth
  21. Donald Allen Wollheim
  22. Early Sales
  23. John Wood Campbell, Jr.
  24. Robert Anson Heinlein
  25. Lyon Sprague de Camp
  26. Clifford Donald Simak
  27. Jack Williamson
  28. Lester del Rey
  29. Theodore Sturgeon
  30. Graduate School
  31. Women
  32. Heartbreak
  33. "Nightfall"
  34. As World War II Begins
  35. Master of Arts
  36. Pearl Harbor
  37. Marriage and Problems
  38. In-Laws
  39. NAES
  40. Life at War's End
  41. Games
  42. Acrophobia
  43. Claustrophobia
  44. Ph.D. and Public Speaking
  45. Postdoctorate
  46. Job Hunting
  47. The Big Three
  48. Arthur Charles Clarke
  49. More Family
  50. First Novel
  51. New Job at Last
  52. Doubleday
  53. Gnome Press
  54. Boston University School of Medicine
  55. Scientific Papers
  56. Novels
  57. Nonfiction
  58. Children
  59. David
  60. Robyn
  61. Off the Cuff
  62. Horace Leonard Gold
  63. Country Living
  64. Automobile
  65. Fired!
  66. Prolificity
  67. Writer's Problems
  68. Critics
  69. Humor
  70. Literary Sex and Censorship
  71. Doomsday
  72. Style
  73. Letters
  74. Plagiarism
  75. Science Fiction Conventions
  76. Anthony Boucher
  77. Randall Garrett
  78. Harlan Ellison
  79. Hal Clement
  80. Ben Nova
  81. Over My Head
  82. Farewell to Science Fiction
  83. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
  84. Janet
  85. Mystery Novels
  86. Lawrence P. Ashmead
  87. Overweight
  88. More Conventions
  89. Guide to Science
  90. Indexes
  91. Titles
  92. Essay Collections
  93. Histories
  94. Reference Library
  95. Boston University Collection
  96. Anthologies
  97. Headnotes
  98. My Own Hugos
  99. Walker & Company
  100. Failures
  101. Teenagers
  102. Al Capp
  103. Oases
  104. Judy-Lynn del Rey
  105. The Bible
  106. Hundredth Book
  107. Death
  108. Life After Death
  109. Divorce
  110. Second Marriage
  111. Guide to Shakespeare
  112. Annotations
  113. New In-Laws
  114. Hospitalizations
  115. Cruises
  116. Janet's Books
  117. Hollywood
  118. Star Trek Conventions
  119. Short Mysteries
  120. Trap Door Spiders
  121. Mensa
  122. The Dutch Treat Club
  123. The Baker Street Irregulars
  124. The Gilbert & Sullivan Society
  125. Other Clubs
  126. American Way
  127. Rensselaerville Institute
  128. Mohonk Mountain House
  129. Travel
  130. Foreign Travel
  131. Martin Harry Greenberg
  132. Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
  133. Autobiography
  134. Heart Attack
  135. Crown Publishers
  136. Simon & Schuster
  137. Marginal Items
  138. Nightfall, Inc.
  139. Hugh Downs
  140. Best-seller
  141. Out of the Past
  142. Word Processor
  143. Police
  144. Heinz Pagels
  145. New Robot Novels
  146. Robyn Again
  147. Triple Bypass
  148. Azazel
  149. Fantastic Voyage II
  150. Limousines
  151. Humanists
  152. Senior Citizen
  153. More About Doubleday
  154. Interviews
  155. Honors
  156. Russian Relatives
  157. Grand Master
  158. Children's Books
  159. Recent Novels
  160. Back to Nonfiction
  161. Robert Silverberg
  162. Gathering Shadows
  163. Threescore Years and Ten
  164. Hospital
  165. New Autobiography
  166. New Life
  • Epilogue, by Janet Asimov
  • Catalogue of Books by Isaac Asimov

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