Book Review: 'Odd Corners' by William Hjortsberg
'Odd Corners' (266 pp.) was published by Shoemaker Hoard in 2004. This book is a trade paperback, sized a little bit bigger than a mass-market paperback.
'Odd Corners' collects various pieces author Hjortsberg (1941 - 2017) first published in the 1970s.
The anthology leads off with an Introduction in which Hjortsberg imparts some interesting observations about trying to make a living in the early 1970s as an author, particularly an author of science fiction, which at that time (despite the success of the New Wave movement) still was considered juvenilia by the literary world.
Despite this, Hjortsberg was able to get his sci-fi novel 'Gray Matters' (1971; included in 'Odd Corners') published in both hardcover and softcover, to critical acclaim (John Cheever sent Hjortsberg a letter praising the novel). My review of 'Gray Matters' is here.
Also included in 'Odd Corners' is the novelette 'Symbiography,' first released in a small press edition in 1973. Hjortsberg later had a truncated version published in Penthouse magazine in February 1979. The longer version, aka 'Symbiography,' is the better incarnation and the best entry in 'Odd Corners.'
A story fragment, titled 'Homecoming,' has never seen print until 'Odd Corners.' Hjortsberg composed it as part of a strange, early 70s effort by Playboy to print science fiction-themed illustrations in the back pages of the magazine, likely as replacements for the 'Little Annie Fanny' comic strip. Writers were asked to contribute short essays designed to accompany the illustrations. Hjortsberg was asked to provide an essay for an illustration by none other than Philippe Druillet of 'Lone Sloane' fame. As intriguing as this idea sounds, ultimately it never came to fruition.
Rounding out the contents of 'Odd Corners' is 'The Clone Who Ran for Congress,' which originally saw print in the May 31, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, under the title 'Goodby, Goodby, Goodby, Mr. Chips.'
This is probably the only science fiction story ever to see print in SI. 'The Clone' is a clever, satirical look at sports culture and the marketing of athletes, and retains its impact almost fifty years after first seeing print.
[ Looking through those old issues of SI from the mid-70s is a reminder that, back in its heyday, more than half of the contents of a given issue of the magazine would be given to topics other than major league sports, something that was permissible in that long-ago, more literate era of our popular culture. ]
If you are interested in the works of the New Wave era of sci-fi, then you might want to keep an eye out for 'Odd Corners.'
