TARZAN ALIVE - A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke [Mass Market Paperback]

Philip Jose Farmer (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Popular Library (1972)
• ASIN: B000PZVHYI
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,040,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WIN SCOTT ECKERT is co-author (with Philip José Farmer) of the Wold Newton novel THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE, about Patricia Wildman, the daughter of a certain bronze-skinned pulp hero (Subterranean Press, 2009).

A founding member of the New Pulp movement, Win also edited and contributed to MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSE FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE (MonkeyBrain Books), a 2007 Locus Awards Finalist for Best Non-Fiction book. He has written tales featuring many adventurous & pulp hero characters, including Zorro, The Avenger, The Phantom, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Hareton Ironcastle, Captain Midnight, and Doc Ardan. He has co-edited and written tales for Moonstone Books' THE GREEN HORNET CHRONICLES and THE GREEN HORNET CASEFILES, and has stories forthcoming in Moonstone's SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE CROSSOVERS CASEBOOK and HONEY WEST. Win also wrote the Foreword to the new edition of Farmer's TARZAN ALIVE: A DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GREYSTOKE (Bison Books, 2006) and the Afterword to the reissue of Farmer's Sherlockian crossover novel THE PEERLESS PEER (Titan Books, 2011). He is a regular contributor to Black Coat Press' annual pulp anthology TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN, and Meteor House's annual anthology THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER. Win's latest release is the critically acclaimed encyclopedic CROSSOVERS: A SECRET CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD, Volumes 1 & 2 (Black Coat Press, 2010). Find Win on the web at www.winscotteckert.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A postmodern classic, March 23, 2006

By 

Christopher Paul Carey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

Far too long out of print, TARZAN ALIVE: THE DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GREYSTOKE is a postmodern classic that will appeal to readers of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Philip José Farmer, as well as those interested in parascholarship, fictional biographies, and literature in general. This is the book that launched the concept of the Wold Newton family, the genetic lineage exposed to a radioactive meteorite in 1795, thus spawning a number of great detectives, scientists, explorers, and adventurers, some of whom border on the superhuman. Farmer's addendums, expanding this concept to include a multitude of literary characters (such as those from Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and Jack London's THE SEA WOLF, to name only a couple), alone make the cost of this book worth it.

This is truly the definitive edition of TARZAN ALIVE, and Bison Books has wisely added a number of extras that will make this edition worth owning even if one already has a Doubleday, Popular Library, or Playboy Paperbacks copy of the book. Collected here, but missing from the older versions of the book, are two gems: 1) "Extracts from the Memoirs of `Lord Greystoke' (previously only available in the hard to find anthology MOTHER WAS A LOVELY BEAST); and 2) "Tarzan Lives: An Exclusive Interview with the Eighth Duke of Greystoke" (in which Farmer himself interviews the Jungle Lord). Further, the Bison Books edition includes an insightful new foreword by Win Scott Eckert (editor of MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE: PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER'S WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE), which places TARZAN ALIVE in the context of "Sherlockian biographical scholarship," showing how Farmer's book is truly exemplary (and also transcendent) in the field of fictional biography. This is followed by a new introduction by science fiction author Mike Resnick discussing Farmer's other Tarzan pastiches.

The book itself is a compelling read. Farmer treats the subject of his "biography" as a living person about whom Edgar Rice Burroughs chronicled in fictionalized form. This livens up what otherwise would be a dry summary of ERB's Tarzan series, as Farmer often interjects with persuasive comments, conjectures, and elaborations in the brilliant style that is unique to him. In TARZAN ALIVE, Farmer breaths new life into the legend of Tarzan, all out of a respectful love for the character which pours from every word on every page of this delightfully wonderful work.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Philip Jose Farmer was thinking leagues ahead of any writer in sci-fi, that's what., June 24, 2006

By 

Henry Covert (2046) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

First off, this is a review I intend to edit later to give readers more of an an idea of the merits of this wonderful book. Second, my review title alludes to the thoughtless and grammatically mangled pocket review provided by "SarahsJay", who, based on his other reviews, could be perceived as someone who would enjoy a biography of Tarzan. But, as in all things, some folk "get it", or grok; others, like Jay, do not and apparently cannot.
I can confidently refute Jay's contention that Mr. Farmer seemed unaware that Tarzan was a character that was written about by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He states this countless times in the book, making Jay's commentary worthless. Was Tarzan a character created by ERB? Or a real and unusual man whose life ERB based his pulp fiction upon? Read this book and decide for yourself; that's the fun of the book, and its basic premise. And I find it ludicrous that someone would admonish Farmer to exit the Wold Newton Universe when it was Farmer's concept to begin with; and equally absurd is Jay's contention that Farmer find another character to, from Jay's POV, to "pick on" (my wordage). Well sir, you are in luck, because PJF wrote an equally delightful follow-up to Tarzan Alive called DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE. Which "SJ" will no doubt excoriate upon its imminent reissue. Bottom line: TARZAN ALIVE is a unique, well-thought-out book by one of our most influential, controversial, and erudite writers of fantastic fiction. Self-appointed purists who decry Farmer's application of literary archaeology to PJF's own favourite literary character as some kind of sacrilege do themselves, and the unfortunates on forums such as this who must read their reactionary tripe, an enormous disservice. If you are of a fan of Farmer, pulps, ERB, literary criticism, and/ or Lord Greystoke himself, give this fascinating volume a read.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable, June 24, 2006

By 

Lucky Jackson (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

I first read this book when I was ten or so, but I have returned to it time after time a an adult. Phil Farmer, a noted science fiction writer, wrote this book, which proports to be a biography of the man upon whom Edgar Rice Borroguhs based his Tarzan novles.

When you read this, you will find yourself wondering if Farmer is pulling one of the greatest literary practical jokes ever, or if Farmer actually does believe that Tarzan was a real person, and, inevitably, you will find yourself wondering if Tarzan actually was a real person.

The biography of Tarzan is useful if you are a fan of the Edgar Rice Burroguhs books. Farmer will show how some of the more outlandish elements of the books can be scientifically explained, and how they might ahve happened in the world you and I inhabit. The book is also useful if you have never read Burroughs and are looking for a quick introduction to his most popular series.

The endnotes, where Farmer sketches Tarzan's family tree and shows how e was related to Sherlock Holmes, Leopold Bloom, the Shadow, Nero Wolfe and a number of other lierary characters is also fascinating.