Lord of the Afternoon

by Pablo Capanna

“Cordwainer Smith” is the pen name that Paul Linebarger used to write some of the most remarkable pages of science fiction of all time. The creator of these curious stories, which took place in a remote future but overflowed with allusions to the present day, was a complex, contradictory and decidedly undefinable character. During World War II, he helped organize one of the United States’ first intelligence services. Within this framework, he wrote a manual on psychological warfare because he believed persuading the enemy was more virtuous than destroying it. He toyed with characters like Rambo and James Bond long before others ever did, but never fully adopted them. Before assuming the identity of “Cordwainer Smith,” he suffered a deep crisis that gave him a glimpse into madness, but he emerged unscathed just as he was beginning to drag his therapist into it as well. He remained connected to the world of espionage by questioning and raising suspicions of stories of where it might be possible to find the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, and likewise with regard to the civil rights movement, and even Marilyn Monroe. In these cases, the author’s personality is equally as, if not more, fascinating than his work, which allows this book to not be bogged down in literary analysis and compels immersion into the complexities of human conscience.

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Filósofo, docente, periodista y ensayista nacido en Italia y radicado en Argentina a la edad de diez años.

Gran parte de su obra explora temas y autores de la ciencia ficción. En 1965 publicó El sentido de la ciencia ficción, un ensayo sobre el género que fue pionero en el idioma castellano, reeditado en una versión actualizada y ampliada en 2007. También escribió ensayos sobre Philip K. Dick, J. G. Ballard y Andréi Tarkovski y es el autor del primer y tal vez único libro dedicado al escritor estadounidense Cordwainer Smith.

Ha colaborado en diversas publicaciones, Criterio, El Péndulo, Minotauro, Axxón, El Cronista, El País y Revista Ñ, entre otros.

Reviews

[Gonzalo Gossweiler]

Es un trabajo elogiable, pionero en su tiempo, en el que Capanna estudia la obra de ese autor que escribía ciencia ficción bajo el pseudónimo de Cordwainer Smith. Lo más admirable es cómo analiza la obra de Paul Linebarger en paralelo con la biografía y establece paralelismos que hablan de una persona de gran talento y humanismo. Por momentos se vuelve muy bibliográfico, académico y filosófico. Un libro fundamental para conocer a Cordwainer y tener muchas más ganas de seguir leyendo sus obras.

[Gillian Pollock]

The definitive work by the renowned expert on the subject of the science fiction writer Paul Lineberger who wrote under the name Cordwainer Smith. Smith was a brilliant writer but Pablo Capanna delves into his life and work and eloquently demonstrates how fascinating the man and his writings were.

[Coyle]

A thoughtful and brief--if occasionally meandering--review of the life and works of Cordwainer Smith. Though Capanna draws back from taking too many explicit lessons from the life of Paul Linebarger, this book is still useful for setting up a loose framework from which to try to understand Smith's writings.

[Te Ve]

excelente, de nivel académico, escritura sencilla, muy bien documentado y reflexionado. desde varios puntos de vista, sin temor de criticar.

[Pablo]

Increíble análisis-biografía de una figura enigmática y sobre la cual cualquier otro ensayo hubiera quedado corto.

[Albert_Camus_lives]

biografia de cordainwer smith por el campana