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Fix-up

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This article is about the literary form. For the real estate concept, seeFixer-upper.For fixup in the context of executable formats on computers, seeRelocation (computer science).For other uses, seefix-up (disambiguation).

Afix-up(orfixup) is anovelcreated from severalshort fictionstories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as aframe storyor other interstitial narration, is written for the new work. The term was coined by thescience fictionwriterA. E. van Vogt,[1]who published several fix-ups of his own, includingThe Voyage of the Space Beagle,[2]but the practice (if not the term) exists outside of science fiction. The use of the term in science fiction criticism was popularised by the first (1979) edition ofThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction,edited byPeter Nicholls,which credited van Vogt with the term’s creation.[3][4] The name “fix-up” comes from the changes that the author needs to make in the original texts, to make them fit together as though they were a novel. Foreshadowing of events from the later stories may be jammed into an early chapter of the fix-up, and character development may be interleaved throughout the book. Contradictions and inconsistencies between episodes are usually worked out.

Some fix-ups in their final form are more of ashort story cycleor composite novel, rather than a traditional novel with a single main plotline. Examples areRay Bradbury'sThe Martian Chronicles,andIsaac Asimov'sI, Robotboth of which read as a series of short stories which may share plot threads and characters, but which still act as self-contained stories.[5]By contrast, van Vogt'sThe Weapon Shops of Isheris structured like a continuous novel, although it incorporates material from three previous van Vogt short stories.

Fix-ups became an accepted practice in American publishing during the 1950s, when science fiction andfantasy—once published primarily in magazines—increasingly began appearing in book form. Large book publishers likeDoubledayandSimon & Schusterentered the market, greatly increasing demand for fiction. Authors created new manuscripts from old stories, to sell to publishers.Algis Budrysin 1965 described fixups as a consequence of the lack of good supply during the "bad years for quality" of the mid-1950s, although citingThe Martian ChroniclesandClifford D. Simak'sCityas exceptions.[6]

Examples

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Science fiction and fantasy

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Other genres

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Weinberg, Robert (1980)."A.E. van Vogt".Icshi.net(interview). Isaac Walwyn. Archived fromthe originalon 2020-11-15.Retrieved2016-12-27.
  2. ^abcdefgh Liptak, Andrew (2013-08-05)."A.E. van Vogt and the fix-up novel".Kirkus Reviews.
  3. ^ Nicholls, Peter; Clute, John (1999).New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.London, UK: Orbit. p. 432.ISBN1-85723-897-4.
  4. ^ "Fixup".Encyclopedia of Science Fiction(Third ed.).
  5. ^ Luscher, Robert M. (2012)."The American short-story cycle".InBendixen, Alfred(ed.).A Companion to the American Novel.Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture. Vol. 80. John Wiley & Sons. p. 370.ISBN9781405101196.
  6. ^abcde Budrys, Algis (October 1965)."Galaxy Bookshelf".Galaxy Science Fiction.pp. 142–150.
  7. ^ Latham, Rob (2009)."Fiction, 1950-1963".In Bould, Mark; Butler, Andrew M.; Roberts, Adam; Vint, Sherryl (eds.).The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction.Routledge. p. 82.ISBN9781135228361.
  8. ^ Bruccoli, Matthew J.(1979).Raymond Chandler: A descriptive bibliography.Pittsburgh Series in Bibliography.University of Pittsburgh Press.
  9. ^ Ingersoll, Ralph (1940)."Publishers' foreword".Report on England, November 1940.New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. p. v – via Archive.org.
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