A for Anything
What would happen if someone invented a machine that could create an exact duplicate of anything?  That is the simple but remarkable premise of Damon Knight's classic 1959 novel, A for Anything.  "The Gismo," as the machine is known, seems like it will end poverty and need forever.  But of course, things are not that simple.  Like any truly great  work of science fiction, Knight's novel boldly pursues the ramifications of his premise.  What will people do if there is no longer any need to work for anything?  What happens if this device is spread carelessly throughout the world (it can even duplicate itself!).  Finally, there is the supreme and most chilling of questions: what happens if you try to duplicate a human being?A for Anything is a classic work of science fiction, but it considers questions that are as relevant and compelling today as they were fifty years ago, perhaps more so.  Like most of us, Knight watches the mind-boggling technological advancements of our time with a mixture of awe and alarm, and wonders whether we are really in control of the things we are creating.  Knight has put his finger on the pulse of our modern sensibility and, mixed with his truly remarkable imagination, created a novel that is gripping, thought-provoking  and impossible to put down.
Fiction, Fiction in English, Science Fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general
Damon Knight
Damon Knight was born in Baker City, Oregon.  He graduated from the WPA Art Center in Salem, Oregon, then moved to New York City.  His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941.  In 1943 he went into publishing, first with Popular Publications, then editing Beyond in 1950-51 and If in 1959-60.  He became a science fiction critic in 1945, but gave that up in 1954.  In 1956 he co-founded the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference.  Also in 1956, he received the Hugo Award for science fiction criticism.  In 1965, he founded and became the first president of the Science Fiction Writers of America.  He published his last book, Will the Real Hieronymus Bosch Please Stand Up? on the internet in 2000.  He lived in Eugene, Oregon, United States, with his wife Kate Wilhelm, also a science fiction writer.