This short-story collection gathers many genres under one pen -- western, detective, sports, sci-fi, the human condition. And all the treasured Nolan trademarks are here: characters defined through their actions; storylines unfurling with alacrity and grace; descriptions concise and complete.
--This text refers to the
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About the Author
William F. Nolen has written seventy-five books in multiple genres, and his works have been selected for over three hundred anthologies and textbooks. Among other honors, he has been cited for excellence by the American Library Association, is twice winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Special Award, and was named an official Living Legend by the International Horror Guild of 2002. He has also written extensively for film and television.
--This text refers to the
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edition.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
(From Ships in the Night) HARVEY GOT THE IDEA when he was crossing Hollywood Boulevard earlier that evening and a drunk swerved around the corner from Highland, hellbent, in a Chevy van. Harvey had leaped back, with the drunk's front bumper brushing his right trouser leg. There was a small spot of grease near his knee where the bumper had scraped the cloth. That son of a bitch ought to be arrested! declared a woman just behind Harvey. They should haul in that goddamn bastard and throw the key away. Harvey blinked at her, saying nothing. He hated to hear a woman swear, and her words disturbed him almost as much as the drunk's van. She was an attractive woman in her mid-forties, and now she was smiling at him. Maybe she was a prostitute; there were a lot of them in Hollywood. Harvey turned his back on her and walked rapidly away. By the time he reached his hotel on Sunset, he had worked out the idea. He thought: I'll never see that drunk again, or that woman either. They are gone. Ships in the night. That's all most people are; even the ones you work with, make friends with or go to school with. Some of them stay in sight longer, and a few are with you for many years, but eventually they all drift into the darkness and you're left alone. Even your parents die, as Harvey's had died. If you get married you fight with your wife, get a divorce, and never see each other again. Or your wife dies. Or else you never get married in the first place, as Harvey had never married. He walked into the lobby, past the dying potted plant, excited with this idea of his. All the way up the stairs he was outlining his approach, mentally cataloguing various sections. He could envision the whole thing, page after page of it, and it really excited him inside. He felt powerful -- to be able to put this thing together the way he planned. It was really going to be something.
--This text refers to the
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edition.
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More About the Author
With 85 books to his credit, plus hundreds of scripts, articles and short stories embracing a dozen genres, William F. Nolan is an official Living Legend (voted that honor by the International Horror Guild).
As a noted pulp historian, he is a recognized authority on Black Mask, Dashiell Hammett, and "Max Brand" (Frederick Faust). Nolan has edited six collections of Faust tales, has written Max Brand: Western Giant, and is the author of the forthcoming biography King of the Pulps: The Man Who Was Max Brand. Nolan's historical anthology, The Black Mask Boys, is the key work on the legendary magazine - and he's written three books on Dashiell Hammett, plus several pieces on the early pulp fiction of his longtime pal, Ray Bradbury.
Nolan states: "I began my fiction career [13 novels and 185 stories] too late for the pulps, but I did have letters printed in Planet Stories and Famous Fantastic Mysteries - and I grew up reading Argosy and Weird Tales."
Recently voted a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Dark Fantasy, Nolan is currently at work on ten new books. His most famous creations, Logan's Run, is now out in comic-book format from Bluewater Productions - and a new mega-budget film version is due from Warner Bros. in 2012.
Nolan lives in Vancouver, Washington, with an apartment full of books, pulp magazines, and stuffed animals.
As a noted pulp historian, he is a recognized authority on Black Mask, Dashiell Hammett, and "Max Brand" (Frederick Faust). Nolan has edited six collections of Faust tales, has written Max Brand: Western Giant, and is the author of the forthcoming biography King of the Pulps: The Man Who Was Max Brand. Nolan's historical anthology, The Black Mask Boys, is the key work on the legendary magazine - and he's written three books on Dashiell Hammett, plus several pieces on the early pulp fiction of his longtime pal, Ray Bradbury.
Nolan states: "I began my fiction career [13 novels and 185 stories] too late for the pulps, but I did have letters printed in Planet Stories and Famous Fantastic Mysteries - and I grew up reading Argosy and Weird Tales."
Recently voted a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Dark Fantasy, Nolan is currently at work on ten new books. His most famous creations, Logan's Run, is now out in comic-book format from Bluewater Productions - and a new mega-budget film version is due from Warner Bros. in 2012.
Nolan lives in Vancouver, Washington, with an apartment full of books, pulp magazines, and stuffed animals.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Author with Many Faces,
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This review is from: Ships in the Night and Other Stories: The Many Worlds of William F. Nolan (Paperback)
I never did see the movie "Logan's Run" because it came along in the years following my passion for science fiction. I do remember its success. I've always assumed that the author of the book that led to the film was a science fiction writer and no more, but it turns out that is not the case."Ships in the Night and Other Stories" demonstrates that William F. Nolan is a skilled writer in many genres, almost as many as there are stories in this book: ten. From auto racing to barnstorming, detective, mainstream, western...I found it interesting to watch a writer change faces so frequently, yet with in some sense a common voice. The best of the stories are beautifully written, with complex endings that take you where you thought you'd never be. Nolan seems to excel at action adventure, which he often invests with psychological depth. In "Encounter with a King," for example, he puts us inside a boxer, a flashy contender, who gets kayoed because he begins to feel compassion for the great ex-champion he is taking apart. Afterward, the defeated is forced by his disgusted manager to face the awful truth--that as a pugilist he has a fatal flaw: his empathy. My favorite story of all though is "Two Coffees," in which the soul of a salesman is finally exposed fully to public view. But then I'm forgetting "The Grackel Question," the most delightfully tongue-in-cheek sci fi yarn I've yet encountered. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and it introduced me to a fine American a writer I hadn't known--one with an amazing range. I do recommend "Ships in the Night."
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