Dying Inside [Paperback]

Robert Silverberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 2002

David Selig was born with an awesome power, the ability to look deep into the human heart and to probe the darkest truths hidden in the recesses of the soul. With reckless abandon, he used this talent in the pursuit of pleasure. Then, one day, his power began to die.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“One of those rare novels that manages to be at once dazzling and tender.”—Michael Chabon on Dying Inside

“Dying Inside is an artist’s summit that doubles as an intimate allegory of the artist’s quandary.”—Jonathan Lethem

"Now widely regarded as Robert Silverberg's masterpiece, Dying Inside, first published in 1972, has just been reissued in a handsome trade paperback with a new preface by its author, one of science fiction's most distinguished writers . . . It's insane that Dying Inside should be subtly dismissed as merely a genre classic. This is a superb novel about a common human sorrow, that great shock of middle age -- the recognition that we are all dying inside and that all of us must face the eventual disappearance of the person we have been."--Michael Dirda, Washington Post

“Silverberg has written the perfect science fiction novel for people who don’t like science fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review on Dying Inside

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Robert Silverberg (1935 - ) Robert Silverberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935, and is one of the most prolific authors of all time, writing not just SF & Fantasy, but extensive non-fiction and a large number of pseudonymously published erotica novels. In his first years as a professional writer, his output regularly exceeded a million words per year. He has won and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards dozens of times as both writer and editor, and in 2004 received the SFWA Grand Master Award. Among his many acclaimed and bestselling novels are A Time of Changes, The Book of Skulls, Dying Inside and Lord Valentine's Castle. Robert Silverberg lives on the West Coast of the United States with his wife, author, editor and art critic, Karen Haber. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: I Books (February 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743435087
• ISBN-13: 978-0743435086
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #942,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undeniable proof that SF isn't considered serious literature, January 5, 2002

By 

"jackaroe" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dying Inside (Hardcover)

Robert Silverberg's "Dying Inside" is one of the great classics of SF literature. The protagonist, David Selig, is a telepath whose rare talent has brought him no pleasure. He leads the life of an outcast, a voyeur, with his gift as his keyhole. When his telepathy deserts him he is left stranded-

(Pauses). (Sits silently, head bowed). (Finally, sighs forcefully). (Prepares to whip self to indignant frenzy).

This world just isn't fair. You know that, you don't need me to tell you. But every so often an injustice so flagrant and so heinous occurs that I need to grab the nearest passerby and scream it at him. You're here, and I'm mad, so put down that mouse and listen. Have you read this book yet? Have you read "The Catcher in the Rye"- you know, "the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged," etc., etc.? Go read them. I'll wait- done yet? Good. What do you think? They're both excellent, aren't they? You really feel the turmoil and pain and angst of both Caulfield and Selig after reading them. So why has this book attracted only a handful of reviews, while "The Catcher in the Rye" has attracted- let me check- over 1000 reviews? Why does "The Catcher in the Rye" appear on all the "100 Greatest Novels of the Century" lists while "Dying Inside" doesn't? I'll tell you why- look at your copy of "Dying Inside," and look for those damning scarlet letters "Science Fiction." That's why. "The Catcher in the Rye" is serious literature; "Dying Inside" is science fiction. Never mind that David Selig is as vividly realized as Holden Caulfield, that the prose of "Dying Inside" is as smooth as silk and as scorching as a brush fire, that "Dying Inside" is to middle age what "The Catcher in the Rye" is to adolescence. One is "truly one of America's literary treasures," and one is not. There ain't no justice, is there, Larry?

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of print? WHY?, December 2, 1999

By 

Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dying Inside (Paperback)

Bear with me briefly while I go on a bit of a rant (part one of it at least) here, this book here represents only a very small part of what may be one of the greatest single spurts of output science fiction or the literary world has ever known. You see, during the seventies, Mr Silverberg came up with no less than thirteen masterworks of science fiction, not a sequel or connected book in the lot, each one a completely unique and searing study of people and the possibilities of science fiction as a whole. Once I heard about these, I knew that I had to get as many as I could and so I go to find them and lo and behold, how many do I find in print. Exactly none gentle reader. None at all, and the horrifying part is that at least two of these are Hugo winners (Time of Changes and the book I'll be reviewing in a moment). Why is this? What is this? Oh well, more on that as I chug along with the four classic period books that I own. This is the first one I read here, Dying Inside in case you've forgotten and it simply made my mouth drop open. The story is one that we're partly familiar with, man has great powers, uses them in a silly fashion and then realizes that he's losing them. Flowers for Algernon is another gem on this theme but in a lot of ways David Selig is even more of an innocent than poor Charley. No matter how many women he beds, no matter how many minds he reads and lives he lives vicariously, no matter how much he can shield himself with his armor of cynicism, inside is a man crying for the release of his power so he can be a normal man and yet he's desperately afraid of what will happen to him if he loses it because it has defined him and made him who is his entire life, he fears that instead of becoming a normal man, he will become even less than the rest of us. And Silverberg portrays this all and lets us into the head of this tormented man with pointed, searing prose, with a focus and poetry that is rarely seen in his work and an intensity that is rarely seen anywhere. You may not like David Selig and you may not agree with him but you will know him more intimately than almost anyone else by the time you close the pages on this all too brief book. The thing that to me is the most poignant is the closing to the book (hint: stop reading if you don't want an even vague idea of how it ends) with David having lost his powers and considering his place in the world, he has to start all over again, and a lesser writer would have gone the easy way and given us the hint of a new love in his life, or some ray of hope. But David has to start over and just like the rest of us, he's unsure and cautiously hopeful but unsure nonetheless. In the end he's more like the rest of us, both before and after, than either him or everyone else would care to admit.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stellar example of "soft" science fiction, April 6, 2005

By 

trainreader (Montclair, N.J.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dying Inside (Paperback)

One of the two Robert Silverberg books that I try to re-read every few years (the other being "The Book of Skulls"), "Dying Inside" tells the story of David Selig, a middle aged man, who is losing his ability to read minds, and consequently, his identity as well, which lacked clarity in the first place. What, at first blush, might seem like an enviable gift, turns out to be Selig's addiction and curse. From early childhood, Selig discovers that others, including his parents, do not always have pleasant thoughts about him. But more depressing to Selig, is the prospect of losing this ability and living alone in his own mind.

Silverberg does a masterful job at showing us David Selig's plight, in both his use of his ability and his gradual loss of it. The book has a number of memorable scenes, for instance when David uses his powers to win a fight against a much stronger bully, or when David becomes obsessed with a woman from whom he is "blocked" (i.e. he can't read her mind). As an example of his wasted life, David earns a living by reading the minds of plagiarizing college students so that he can better prepare academic papers on their behalf.

David Selig has wasted his life and squandered his only talent, but really, could there have been any alternative? But his mind reading, though destructive, has become the defining part of his life. Silverberg has once again demonstrated why he must be considered one of the giants of the "soft" science fiction genre.

Highly recommended.