Robert Silverberg has a wonderful essay in the January issue of Aismov's. It certainly stirred some emotions in me. I identified with just about everything in it, and it recalled a wonderful time for me. Check it out.
Reflections: "It’s an episode more than half a century old that I think will stir some emotion in the bosom of anyone who, like myself of long ago, found it exciting to collect the science fiction magazines of ancient days."
4 comments:
Liked the essay. For me, living in a small town, there were no used book/magazine stores when I was a young lad. I'm about a decade behind Silverberg. I came by passion through libraries. My first exposure to SF was Tunnel In The Sky at my school. I did haunt both the school and public libraries after that, reading everything by that Heinlein guy I could find, as well as Verne, Wells, and Holly. Magazines weren't discovered until I could earn my own money and get out in the world.
I was a small-towner, too, but I can sure identify with the feelings. We had The Corner Bookstore, a marvel in a town with around 6000 people. No used books, but I haunted the spinner racks and the magazine racks.
Nitpicking alert...Bob refers to FANTASTIC when he actually means FANTASTIC ADVENTURES. But, as I've nostlagia'd from time to time here and there, I was very happy to walk into Book 'n' Card in Derry, NH, in 1978 and see the ridiculously large stacks of FANTASTIC and AMAZING (50 or so copies each, the distributor was obviously dumping nearly all southern New Hampshire's load there) and the more modest stacks of F&SF and EQMM and such, and blowing my allowance.
I think we can all identify with the feelings in the essay.
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