[net.sf-lovers] Cliff Simak and THE OUTER LIMITS

boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (10/26/85)

> From:	hpfcla!mpm	(Mike McCarthy)
 
>      I believe that the "Outer Limits" episode in question was based on
> the book "The Duplicated Man"  by James Blish (or maybe it was Murray
> Leinster).  As I remember, the TV episode was quite faithful to the plot
> in the book.  (I don't remember if the endings were the same.)
>
>      I would be surprised if Clifford Simak EVER wrote anything like
> this book.  His reputation as the "pastoral novelist of SF" is no ac-
> cident.  His style of writing would result in a very different novel
> if he were to start with the same theme of "personal duplication".

Sorry, you're wrong. The episode in question, entitled "The
Duplicate Man", was based not on the Blish & Lowndes novel of
a similar title, but on a Clifford Simak short story entitled
"Good Night, Mr. James". If you want to look up this story,
it appeared in the following places:

Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1951
THE OUTER REACHES  (edited by August Derleth)
	[U.S. editions only; in Britain, it's in the
	derivative anthology, THE TIME OF INFINITY.]
THE GALAXY READER OF SCIENCE FICTION  (edited by H. L. Gold)
ALL THE TRAPS OF EARTH AND OTHER STORIES  (Simak collection)
	[U.S. editions only; in Britain, it's in the
	derivative collection, THE NIGHT OF THE PUUDLY.
	In fact, in this British edition, the story in
	question was retitled to be the title story.]

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA)

UUCP:	{decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}
	!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian
ARPA:	boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA

<"Bibliography is my business">