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William Tenn

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Author

The Resume

    (May 9, 1920-February 7, 2010)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    American author known for his satirical writings on the human condition under the guise of science fiction
    Born in London, moved with his family before he was two years old to the United States
    Real name: Phillip Klass
    Stories include; 'Venus and the Seven Sexes,' 'Null-P,' 'The Brooklyn Project,' 'Child's Play,' 'Wednesday's Child,' 'The Jester,' 'Project Hush,' and 'On Venus Have We Got a Rabbi'
    His complete works can be found in the two volume collection 'Immodest Proposals' and 'Here Comes Civilization'
    Wrote non-fiction under his real name

Why he might be annoying:

    Because almost all of his writings were satirical or written ironically, the effect of his satire is deadened if you read a lot of his stuff.
    He wrote almost nothing the last forty years of his life.
    He never won a major competitive award for his writing.
    He criticized science fiction for, 'the idiocies and the bad writing in it, the cliquishness, the cultiness.'
    He once described himself with, 'I'm a mystic. A very rational Jewish orthodox atheist mystic.'
    He is sometimes mixed up with a UFO debunker named Phillip Klass
    A couple of short stories for television are his only works to be filmed.
    His output was relatively small with only one novel and some sixty short stories.
    According to his friends he talked extremely fast to the point of often being hard to understand.
    He couldn't remember where he came up with the pen name, William Tenn.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served in WWII.
    'Immodest Proposals' and 'Here Comes Civilization' have afterwords after every story written by him just for the collection.
    He was named 'Author Emeritus' by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
    He taught creative writing at Penn State for twenty four years without having a college degree.
    His short story 'The Liberation of Earth,' written to protest the Korean War, has been a favorite of peace activists ever since and was sometimes read aloud at anti Vietnam War rallies.
    His wife, brother, nephew, and two nieces are all published authors.
    He talked Daniel Keyes out of giving 'Flowers for Algernon' a happy ending when Keyes' editor tried to talk him into it.
    He was without a doubt the most gifted satirist in the history of science fiction.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 17 Votes: 5.88% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying