On this date, April 7, in 1915, Henry Kuttner entered the world. He left it far too soon.
Posts commemorating Kuttner’s birthday have been pretty standard around here for a number of years. I’m not going to try to come up with something brilliant and original to say. I’m too snowed under with the day job. But I have been thinking about what to write, mostly while I was driving to Portales yesterday for the Jack Williamson Lectureship. (It was awesome! I’ll write about it, I promise.)
Kuttner seems to be getting some attention these days. At least I keep coming across mentions of his name in various places.
A few years ago I started a series of posts on Kuttner’s works that haven’t been reprinted, at least not in book form. I’m going to revise that series, which like many of my projects has gotten buried by Real Life obligations.
Later this year, namely when the semester ends in about six weeks, I’m going to try to read some of those stories and tell you about them. Kuttner wrote what at the time were considered novels, at least in the pulps. Today they would be considered novellas. Because of their length, most weren’t reprinted. As we saw with “A God Named Kroo“, many were just as good, if not better, than what made it into books.
I don’t know what I’m going to start with, but it will be something most of you probably haven’t read before. Stay tuned.
I completely agree. I have a stack of printouts a foot high (that’s an actual and not figurative number) of those little-known novellas and novelettes. They’re wonderful stories, all of them (even if some are not quite as good as the others.) “Design for Dreaming” is an excellent and amusing fantasy story and not much discussed. It was published in Unknown Worlds, February 1942.
I think I’ve read that one. I’ll look it up later when I get home. I liked “As You Were”, from Thrilling Wonder, August 1950. It’s a little rough in spots, but it’s a fun story.