The BookwormWho Became a ScienceFiction Writer
byMarcMcCutcheon
Amicroscopicteamofhumansinaminisculesubmarinecruisesthroughtheveinsofasickman’sbody....Arobottakesdesperatemeasurestobecomehuman....Citizensofanalienworldpanicastheywitnesstheirfirstnightfallin1,000years....
Thesearetheplotsofjustthreeofthewondrousstorieseitherwrittenorco-writtenbyIsaacAsimov,oneofthegreatestsciencefictionauthorsofalltime.Asimov,whostartedwritingattheageof11,wroteinnearlyeverycategory—history,science,language,religion,geography,chemistry,ecology,math,mystery,reference,juvenile,humor—butitishissciencefictionworksthatheismostfamousfor.Chancesaregoodthatyouorsomebodyinyourfamilyhasreadashortstory orbookbyAsimovorseen amoviebasedonone.
Fewauthorstophiminsheerproduction,ashewrotenearly350books!Andhisscientificessaysandsciencefictionstorieshaveinspirednumbersofreaderstobecomeeitherscientistsorsciencefictionwritersthemselves.SohowdidtheyoungIsaacgaintheabilityandtalentnecessarytowritesomanybooks?Whatkindofchildhoodledhimtoimaginerobots,spacetravelandlifeinthefuture?
IsaacAsimov,asphotographedin1965
IsaacwasborninRussiain1920,thenwastakenbyhisparentstoAmericawhenhewasthree.Hetaughthimselfhowtoreadatagefourandbegantowritestorieswhenhewas11.
Hegraduatedfromhighschoolat15.Becausehisfamilywastoopoortobuybooks,Isaacwenttothelocallibrary.Inhisautobiography,herecallshimselfatagenine:
Ireadomnivorouslyandwithoutguidance.IwouldstumbleonbooksaboutGreekmythsandfellinlovewiththatworld.WhenIdiscovered...thelliadandtheOdyssey,Itookthemoutofthelibraryregularly.Ienjoyedthemandreadandrereadthem,oftenbeginningagainassoonasIhadfinished,untilIhadalmostmemorizedthem...IreadDumasandDickensandLouisaMayAlcottand,indeed,almosttheentiregamutof19th-centuryfiction.
Isaacreadsomebooksasmanyas26times!Asmostbookwormsdo,hepreferredreadingtoanyotheractivity.Becauseofthisandbecausehisparentsneededhimtowork
longhoursintheircandystoreinNewYork,hespentlittletimewithfriendsorplayinglikeotherkids.Butitwasinthecandystorethathefoundthetimetoread.YoumightfeelsorryforIsaac,buthedidn’tfeelsorryforhimself.
AlthoughIsaacwasavoraciousreader,meaningnomatterhowmanybookshereaditjustwasn’tenough,hedidn’tdiscoversciencefictionuntilhewas10.HestumbleduponthemonthlymagazinesAmazingStoriesandAstoundingStoriesandfromthefirstfewpages,washooked.AstoundingStorieswasthebestsciencefictionmagazineofitsday,andsomeofAmerica’smostimaginativewriterscontributedstoriestoit.Thetalesofaliens,robotsandtimemachinessoenthralledIsaacthathewouldoftenretellthemtogroupsoffellowjuniorhighstudentsonthesidewalkoutsideofschool.
Isaacnotonlyreadandrereadeveryissueofthesemagazines(luckily,hisfatherstockedtheminthecandyshopsohecouldreadthemforfree!),hewouldalsowritetotheireditorsandcritiqueeachstory.Someofhisletterswereevenpublished.AsIsaaclearnedmoreaboutsciencefiction,hebegantobelievethathecouldwriteaswellassomeoftheauthorshewasreading.Whynottry?
AlthoughIsaachadpennedhisfirststoryatage11,itwasn’tuntilhismid-teensthathebegantogetserious.Hethenchurnedoutarapidsuccessionofstories,whichhesubmittedtotheeditorsatAstoundingStoriesandAmazingStories.Hisfirstdozeneffortswererejected, butIsaacpersevered.1Heworkedtirelesslyatbecomingabetterwriter.At18,hewrotea storycalled“MaroonedOffVesta.”Itearnedhimthebreakthroughhewaswaitingfor—it waspublishedinAmazingStoriesafewmonthslater,andIsaacgiddilycollectedhisfirstwritingcheckfor$64(approximately$820intoday’sdollars).Therest,astheysay,ishistory.
Asimoveventuallysoldnearlyeverythinghewrote.Thisincludedshortstorieswithsuchtitlesas“RingAroundtheSun,”“TheMartianWay,”“I,Robot,”and“Stowaway.”Todayhisshortstorieshavebeencollectedinnofewerthan33volumes.Amonghisbestworksisastoryentitled“Nightfall,”whichhewrotewhenhewasjust20.ThemembersoftheScienceFictionWritersofAmericavoteditthegreatestsciencefictionstoryeverwritten.
OnekeytoAsimov’spopularitywashissimplewritingstyle;anotherwashisattentiontoaccuracy.Unlikemanywritersofhisday,hissciencefictionhadrealscienceinit.Whenhewrotethatthesunwas93millionmilesawayorthatthesoundofanexplosioncouldnotbeheardinspace,readerscouldbeassuredhewasright.
Whilemanyauthorsdescribetheirworkasdifficult—evenagonizing—Asimovneverdid.Helovedtowrite.Hewroteasmuchas18hoursaday,evenwhenhewassick.Hewroteonhisbirthday.Hewroteonholidays.Anditwasthispassionforhiscraftthatmadehimsosuccessful.Atthepeakofhiscareer,hesoldapieceeverysixdays.
IsaacAsimov’scareercamefullcirclein1976whenanewsciencefictionmagazinewasnamedafterhim.Asimov’sScienceFictionMagazineisstillbeingpublishedtodayandiscultivatingawholenewgenerationofaward-winningauthors.In1987hewasgiventheultimaterecognitionfromhispeers:thecovetedGrandMasterofScienceFictionawardforhislifetimeofachievementsinthefield.Hediedin1992.
1persevered: continuedin a courseofaction inspiteofdifficulties
I,Robot—anAmericanClassicIsaacAsimov’sshortstorycollectionI,Robot,firstpublishedin1950,hasbecomeoneofAmerica’sbestknowncollectionsofsciencefiction.Theninestoriesinthecollectionoriginallyappearedinmagazinesduringthe1940s.Atleastthreestoriesfromthecollectionhavebeenmadeintotelevisionepisodes.In2004,amovietitledI,Robotwasreleased,whichwaslooselybasedonAsimov’sclassiccollection.
Asimovdevelopedwhathecalled“TheThreeLawsofRobotics”inI,Robot.AccordingtoAsimov’sThreeLaws,therearecertainrulesbywhichrobotsshouldabide.
1.Arobotmaynotinjureahumanbeingorallowahumanbeingtobecomeharmed.
2.Arobotmustobeytheordersgiventoitbyhumans,unlesstheseordersconflictwiththeFirstLaw.
3.Arobotmustprotectitsownexistence,unlessdoingsoconflictswiththeFirstorSecondLaws.
Asimovusedtheselaws—withsomelatermodifications—inhiswriting.ManysciencefictionwriterstodaystillclaimthatI, RobotandAsimov’sThreeLawsofRoboticsaretheinspirationfortheirwriting.
“TheBookwormWho Became a ScienceFictionWriter”byMarc McCutcheon, fromThe KidWho NamedPluto ©2004 by MarcMcCutcheon;illustratedbyJonCannell.Used bypermissionof ChronicleBooksLL,San Francisco. Visit ChronicleBooks.com.
1.Whichsentencebest statesthecentral ideaof the article?
A.Asimov’sshortstoriesarestillread today.
B.Asimovhadanexcitingandadventurouslife.
C.Asimov’schildhoodhelpedhimsucceedasanauthor.
D.Asimov preferredreading toworkinginhisfather’scandystore.
2.Which quote fromthe articlebestsupports the idea that Asimovwas determined to become awriter?
A.“Isaacreadsomebooksasmany as 26 times!”
B.“.. .hespent little timewithfriends orplayinglikeotherkids.”
C.“Hisfirstdozeneffortswererejected, but Isaacpersevered.”
D.“Asimov’s Science FictionMagazineisstillbeingpublished today.. .”
3.Theinformationinparagraphs6–8isorganized
A.toshow a problemanditssolution.
B.tocompareandcontrast.
C.inchronologicalorder.
D.in order ofimportance.
4.Inparagraph8,thewriterstatesthat Asimov “churned out a rapidsuccession of stories”tosuggestthatAsimov
A.workedswiftlyandconsistently.
B.rejectedmany ideas thatoccurred to him.
C.read many stories whilelearning to be a writer.
D.wrotemorestories than hecould submit to magazines.
5.In paragraph10,why is the word“real”initalics?
A.to show a commonwordusedinanuncommonway
B.toemphasizethatotherwritersmadeupsciencefacts
C.to point out a word that wasoftenusedinAsimov’sstories
D.tosuggestthatthe writerdoubtswhetherAsimov’ssciencewasreal
6.As used inparagraph 12, coveted
means
A.desired.
B.rejected.
C.complicated.
D.old-fashioned.
7.Paragraph 12is includedto
A.explainwhyAsimovcontinues to writepopularstories.
B.summarizetheeffectsofotherwritersonAsimov’sstyle.
C.suggestthatAsimov’s workhasappearedmainlyinmagazines.
D.emphasizeAsimov’shonorsandhisinfluenceuponotherwriters.
8.The informationin the textboxsupports the idea that Asimov
A.useda simplewritingstyle.
B.lovedwritingstoriesandnovels.
C.wasinspiredbyclassicliterature.
D.influencedlatersciencefiction stories.
9.Whichquotebestexpressesthewriter’sopinionaboutwhyAsimovwassuccessfulas awriter?
A.“...IsaacAsimov, one of thegreatestscience fictionauthors of all time.”
B.“Isaac . .. would alsowrite totheir editorsandcritiqueeachstory.”
C.“As Isaac learnedmoreaboutscience fiction, he began tobelieve that he could writeaswell assome of the authorshewasreading.”
D.“He loved to write.Hewroteas much as18hours a day,even whenhe wassick.”
10.IsaacAsimovbecame a popularscience fiction writer.
- Basedonthearticle,identifyonereasonwhyAsimov’sstorieswerepopular.
- Basedon the article,wouldscientistsbeinterestedinreadingAsimov’sscience fiction stories?Explain.
Use specificinformation from the selection andanyadditionalinsight to supportyour response. Writeyour answerin your answer folder.