The Way The Future Was by Frederik Pohl

[james_davis_nicoll]

The good natured autobiography of an amiable SF author.

The Way The Future Was by Frederik Pohl

Comments

[patrick_morris_miller]

He couldn’t eat with the black gang, because he was a civilian.

Was 'a civilian' supposed to be 'white'?

[james_davis_nicoll]

The black gang is the engine room crew.

[bunsen_h]

So named because of the grime of the job, not because of innate skin colour.

[rezendi]

I am frustrated by my inability to impulse-buy this in ebook format.

[rezendi]

Oh, huh: https://www.baen.com/the-way-the-future-was.html

[rezendi]

...but Baen is insisting I give them my telephone number and home address to be able to buy ebooks from them, which I am disinclined to do, and also their site seems about as stable as a US government promise. I think I shall refrain.

[armiphlage]

Plus they will spam you despite repeatedly unsubscribing. And if you contact their ISP asking that they cease, you will get repeated personal diatribes from Toni Weisskopf saying how you are a communist hurting their Cthulhu-given right to free enterprise, and they will see you in court for unspecified damages

Edit: added link:

https://supergee.livejournal.com/4078964.html?thread=12262772#t12262772

[jreynolds197]

Link appears to be dead.

[armiphlage]

It's LiveJournal, half the time it won't connect to North American servers.

[(Anonymous)]

I served on American ships far more recently than WWII, and we had several civilians aboard who ate with the officers in the wardroom. I don't know if it's a time-moves-on thing or if it's a British-are-classist thing. The US Navy probably is the most classist remaining element of American society, where Navy officers expect lordly treatment far more than the officers in the other branches, to my observation.

(I bet the civilians wouldn't have been allowed to eat in the Chief's Mess though.)

--
Nathan H.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been aboard UK vessels several times - I ate with the junior ratings (the vessels I've been on had a ward-room for the officers, a senior ratings mess and a junior ratings mess (same food, but no service).

[sturgeonslawyer]

While I (as a USAn) appreciate and approve the sentiment of your now-oft-repeated "America delenda est," I suggest changing it to "USA delenda est;" otherwise, you seem to be asking a supervolcano or Chixculub meteor to wipe out an entire hemisphere...

[dragoness_e]

Huh. When I was in the U.S. Navy, civilian technical advisors were treated as officers, and ate in the officer's mess. Maybe the British Navy had different rules.

[chrysostom]

Pohl's blog said that he was working on a second volume of TWTFW, as well as an expanded version of the first part. I really wish he'd gotten to finish them.

V

[(Anonymous)]

I used to follow his blog, but it appears to be not online anymore. It must be on the internet archive, though.

Re: V

[duskpeterson]

It is, though you have to pick a date before his death to see his posts. Well worth browsing through; it's a tragedy no one has gathered these posts together as a book.

[chrysostom]

It must be said that Pohl's FIFTH marriage lasted quite a long time.

[mikeda]

As did his fourth marriage.

[duskpeterson]

This was a formative book for me as a writer in my teens. I remember how excited I was when I discovered his blog, decades later.