Sci-Fi Blurb Leads to Fascination with the Author
When a headline popped up in my feed two months ago, I did something I rarely do. I immediately clicked on. I was intrigued by the title, The Girl Who was Plugged In.
My plan was simply to explain the gist of the 1973 science fiction novella about a disabled fifteen-year-old girl who agrees to remotely control a genetically engineered fifteen-year-old girl and use it to influence the masses in a dystopian world—when advertising is illegal.
Then I planned to share that according to the entertainment magazine, Deadline, Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) has agreed to write and direct the film. So far, though, to my knowledge, there is no release date.
So that was that. Not much of a blog. Until the more I read, I found the author equally if not more intriguing.
The Girl who was Plugged In was written by James Tiptree, Jr., who won the prestigious Hugo award for the story in 1974. I further learned that Tiptree is a pseudonym for author, artist and Air Force veteran Alice B. Sheldon. Tiptree (Sheldon) chose the pen name for various reasons but also to compete in the male-dominated science fiction field.
Tiptree/Sheldon’s list of literary awards is numerous. This multifaceted woman was also an artist, participating in group shows at The Art Institute of Chicago.
Alice B. Sheldon passed away in 1978. Tiptree’s Wikipedia page expands on his/her life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree_Jr.
Julie Phillips, a critic and award-winning biographer wrote Tiptree’s biography, and won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2006. I recently found the book and purchased it on Amazon. After reading Tiptree’s Wikipedia page, as well as the following book description, I think it’s evident why Ms. Sheldon chose a pseudonym. I look forward to reading James Tiptree, Jr., The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, and learning more about this remarkable woman.
About the Book:
Very interesting…and in a small way, sad. How many excellent women writers, inventors, etc., had to hide behind male pseudonyms or simply initials in order to be recognized and receive their just due?
I remember reading once that J.K. Rowling was told by her publisher to use her initials or take a pen name because boys wouldn’t buy a fantasy series by a woman author. She continued this when she began writing her mystery series, becoming Robert Galbraith.
Women have been fighting to be taken seriously for millennia in every field. Wally Funk, who died last week at the age of 87, was in the group of the first women chosen for astronaut training in the Mercury 13 group. NASA never let her or any of the other women who went through the program fly a mission. She finally got an opportunity to go up in space 5 yrs. ago on a Blue Origin flight. Sad is too mild a word to describe how women have been and are still treated in the US and around much of the world.
Too little too late, huh, Lois? Imagine what Funk might have brought to the space program. Another benefactor to the space program was mathematician Katherine Goble whose recognition also came too late imo. I’m happy these stories are not always buried.
An interesting tidbit on Rowling as Galbraith — the book didn’t sell more than a few copies until it was “accidentally” leaked that she was the author.
Debra, agreed on so many counts. I’m so excited to read Tiptree’s biography. To this day, the Sheldon estate guards Alice B. Sheldon’s privacy and legacy. I may write a book review as a follow up. What started out s excitement over a possible film option turned into so much more.
Serendipity, Donnell. This book came to your attention for a reason, and I look forward to seeing what you do with it. You’ve already begun….
Saralyn, I totally agree. Stay tuned for my perspective — I’ll do the best I can.
Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), the renowned Danish author of “Out of Africa,” never won the Nobel Prize in Literature, despite being a top contender and receiving multiple nominations throughout the 1950s.
However, when Ernst Hemingway accepted the Nobel Prize in 1954, he said that it should have gone to Karen Blixen.
Oh, wow, how magnanimous of him. Can you give your Nobel Prize to another? Is that a rulebook somewhere?
So true, J. A. Jance (Judith Ann) is another example, though the list is endless. But good to see that Sheldon may finally be getting her due, even if it’s long past due.
Judy, before I get too far into speculation, I want to read Tiptree’s biography. According to Sheldon’s bio there was more than reason she let her pseudonym do the talking for her. But as a CIA as well as a psychologist I can think of many reasons not to come forward. Using the name Tiptree, certainly opened doors and she carried out the ruse for ten years I read. Do you see, I’m already speculating:)
I’d never heard of this remarkable woman. How sad a world where her talent had to hide behind a male pen name. She helped break down a barrier for all the women authors who came after.
Brooke, I guess the saying, Good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately, Alice B. Sheldon didn’t live long enough to see her creations come to life. I hope you’re right. Other women will be more accepted in predominantly male-dominated genres.