When it comes to pop culture, Alfred Bester (1913-1987) is something of an unsung hero. He wrote radio scripts, screenplays, and comic books (in which capacity he created the original Green Lantern Oath). But Bester is best known for his science-fiction novels, and The Stars My Destination may be his finest creation. First published in 1956 (as Tiger! Tiger!), the novel revolves around a hero named Gulliver Foyle, who teleports himself out of a tight spot and creates a great deal of consternation in the process. With its sly potshotting at corporate skullduggery, The Stars My Destination seems utterly contemporary, and has maintained its status as an underground classic for forty years. (Bester fans should also note that Vintage has reprinted The Demolished Man, which won the very first Hugo Award in 1953.)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this pulse-quickening novel, Alfred Bester imagines a future in which people "jaunte" a thousand miles with a single thought, where the rich barricade themselves in labyrinths and protect themselves with radioactive hit men - and where an inarticulate outcast is the most valuable and dangerous man alive. The Stars My Destination is a classic of technological prophecy and timeless narrative enchantment by an acknowledged master of science fiction.

FROM THE CRITICS

Gale Research

Bester's The Stars My Destination was "said by many people to be the best science fiction novel ever written," T. A. Shippey related in the Times Literary Supplement. Wendell called it "undoubtedly Bester's masterpiece, showing his `pyrotechnical' style at its best." In the opinion of Village Voice reviewer Robert Morales, "The Stars My Destination--an incredible takeoff on The Count of Monte Cristo, and James Joyce pastiche--burlesqued the adventure novel into high art. Both story and novel excel in sheer lunatic excitement."

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING