It was with great pleasure that I read that Philip Jose Farmer's breathtaking "biography" of The Man of Bronze, the one and only Doc Savage will be reprinted this summer. Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life will first be a deluxe volume from Meteor House followed by a trade edition from Altus Press, the same folks who have been putting out the new Doc Savage adventures.
I first stumbled across this book, completely unaware of the conceit of Farmer's Wold-Newton universe back in the 70's. A copy of the Bantam edition of the book enthralled me, opening up the pulp universe in a peculiar but effective way. I still have and cherish that copy. At the time I knew precious little about The Man of Bronze. Nowadays, having read most of his adventures thanks to the great reprints from Anthony Tollin's Sanctum Books, I can enjoy this tome with new insights.
It will make a grand companion to the original Tarzan Alive "biography" currently available by Bison Books from University of Nebraska Press.
A toast is indeed in order.
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Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life
ReplyDeleteBantam Paperback I purchased in the 70's
Just opened up the Fantastic World of Clark Savage Jr. for me
I was interested in what this Hero was about
This book just showed me what I'd been missing
Never Looked Back
Now Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life
Is almost as old as the History of Adventures it describes!
-Sam
I feel the same way. Apocalyptic Life for all its weirdness was my window into Doc lore for a great many years. I'm eager to give it another read after all these decades.
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