Meet Me At Infinity: The Uncollected Tiptree: Fiction and Nonfiction

by James Tiptree Jr., Jeffrey D. Smith

James Tiptree, Jr. was the pseudonym of Alice B. Sheldon (1915-1987), in whose honor the Tiptree Awards are given annually. She wrote some of the best short SF ever, winning two Hugos and three Nebulas. This book brings together stories previously uncollected-including an early one published under her own name in The New Yorker- and many of her colorful non-fiction pieces, mainly autobiographical, published under the Tiptree name (1970-1987). What shines through in this book is the magnetic and charming personality of the author, one of the most influential SF personalities of her era.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Essays, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Collections

396 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

"James Tiptree Jr." was born Alice Bradley in Chicago in 1915. Her mother was the writer Mary Hastings Bradley; her father, Herbert, was a lawyer and explorer. Throughout her childhood she traveled with her parents, mostly to Africa, but also to India and Southeast Asia. Her early work was as an artist and art critic. During World War II she enlisted in the Army and became the first American female photointelligence officer. In Germany after the war, she met and married her commanding officer, Huntington D. Sheldon. In the early 1950s, both Sheldons joined the then-new CIA; he made it his career, but she resigned in 1955, went back to college, and earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology.

At about this same time, Alli Sheldon started writing science fiction. She wrote four stories and sent them off to four different science fiction magazines. She did not want to publish under her real name, because of her CIA and academic ties, and she intended to use a new pseudonym for each group of stories until some sold. They started selling immediately, and only the first pseudonym—"Tiptree" from a jar of jelly, "James" because she felt editors would be more receptive to a male writer, and "Jr." for fun—was needed. (A second pseudonym, "Raccoona Sheldon," came along later, so she could have a female persona.)

Tiptree quickly became one of the most respected writers in the field, winning the Hugo Award for The Girl Who was Plugged In and Houston, Houston, Do You Read?, and the Nebula Award for "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" and Houston, Houston. Raccoona won the Nebula for "The Screwfly Solution," and Tiptree won the World Fantasy Award for the collection Tales from the Quintana Roo.

The Tiptree fiction reflects Alli Sheldon's interests and concerns throughout her life: the alien among us (a role she portrayed in her childhood travels), the health of the planet, the quality of perception, the role of women, love, death, and humanity's place in a vast, cold universe. The Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award) has celebrated science fiction that "expands and explores gender roles" since 1991.

Alice Sheldon died in 1987 by her own hand. Writing in her first book about the suicide of Hart Crane, she said succinctly: "Poets extrapolate."

Julie Phillips wrote her biography, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

Reviews

[Linda Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for those who are not familiar with the story of James Tiptree Jr., as the majority of pages are letters to the person who compiled these previously uncollected works. A good book to get to know Alice Bradley Sheldon, and track the writer's career. Especially interesting - naturally - is the difficulty she had getting published and collected after the world found out she was a woman. There is an unfortunate hint in this book that part of that issue was that maybe her writing style changed when she wrote as a woman. I need more evidence of that before I accept that implied premise.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish more editors would put out concept collections like this. This book is a collection of James Tiptree Jr.'s previously uncollected fiction and nonfiction (or Alice Sheldon's, depending on if you prefer her real name over nom de plume).

While most of the fiction isn't her best--the short pieces especially are, in a word, weird; more like flash fiction experiments than stories--the nonfiction is what makes the book fascinating. Compiled by her friend and former fanzine editor Jeffrey D. Smith, the nonfiction section represents Tiptree's letters, essays, and interviews from both before and after her real-life identity came out. Highlights for me were "Everything but the Signature is Me" (the first, semi-confessional letter she wrote to Smith after her identity was revealed); the interview and biography she did for Contemporary Authors (did you know her mother was a total badass, an African explorer and WWII war correspondent?); and the searing "Zero at the Bone", published for the first time in this collection.

[Helena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing particularly wrong with it -- it's just I didn't realize it was uncollected material -- more for someone studying science fiction writers of that era than something a person would read for fun.

[James Jankiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent deep dive into Tiptree (Alice Sheldon) and her fascinating background, persona and art. I found this wonderful description of her on an Amazon review that sums her up well, "For one, Tiptree has a habit of using her original diction, often jargon specific to the narrators' lifestyles, without explaining any of it. Usually I'm able to read through without pause, gathering the meanings of these words from their context, but every now and then I would have to read the same paragraph over and over, and rarely did rereading make it any clearer. I appreciate the skill with which Tiptree usually accomplishes this skill, but be forewarned that there may be places in the prose where some degree of confusion is inevitable." This is so true of her art; the challenge and the intrigue of her style and stories is further explore here in her 'cast-off' stories, letters to her lead fan, afterwords she provided for her stories, and her autobiographical biographical sketch, which is a quire fascinating read.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet Me at Infinity offers insight into Tiptree/Alli’s perspective. The non-fiction was especially fascinating, and I enjoyed reading her take on writing SF. There were two short stories that stood out to me here: Trey of Hearts and The Color of Neanderthal Eyes. TH because it’s interesting to see a woman write an FMM scene in which there is a lot of love. CNE was fascinating for a variety of reasons, and involved Tip playing with gender reveals in a way that challenges rules of attraction (not necessarily in an LGBT-positive way, as in With Delicate Mad Hands). Overall I liked this collection a lot, and am more convinced that Tip deserves more attention than she gets today.

[Greg Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful, hilarious, and always brave, Sheldon’s candidness and imagination are at full capacity here in this collection of both her fiction and non-fiction, much of which could be read as a manifesto for the current battles women face. Her letters, stories, and essays pull off nothing short of baring a soul that is wholly unafraid to weep for the destruction she sees, or to ever stop fighting the good fights against oppression and greed. Easily the best book I’ve read this year so far, like everything else I read by her I was sorry to have it end.

[Sonia]

Colección de relatos poco conocidos de Tiptree que no me dicen nada.

[Marie Michaels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bunch of her lesser-know pieces, both stories (not done solely under the Tiptree name) and letters, chosen by the editor as relating somehow to her personal life. A lot of them are pieces that were rejected or published in tiny magazines. The idea is to give a sense of her through these pieces, which is a cool concept. The first piece, "Happiness is a Warm Spaceship" is really kooky. It's very cool getting a look at the person behind the alias; it's amazing but depressing that her letters are better, funnier, more evocative and more thoughtprovoking than pieces I spend months with. Ah well!

[AT · Rating 1 out of 5]

Contains previously-uncollected minor works. Only for those who must read everything Tiptree wrote.