Tales of Pirx the Pilot (First English Language Edition)

Stanislaw Lem (author); Louis Iribarne (translator)

ISBN 10: 0151879788 / ISBN 13: 9780151879786

Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1979

About this Item

First printing (with correct letter line of "B C D E") wityh FIRST EDITION stated above. A fine copy in a fine jacket. A tight clean copy with price ($7.95) intact on front flap. Comes with archival-quality jacket protector. Note: Light offsetting on front pastedown and front endpaper. Very light foxing on top edge. The planet Pirx (BD+14 4559 b) was discovered in 2009, and named after the titular main character.

Seller Inventory # FLAHIVE-1349

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Tales of Pirx the Pilot (First English Language Edition)
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York
• Publication Date: 1979
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151879788
• ISBN 13: 9780151879786
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Polish Literature
  • Science Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

In Pilot Pirx, Lem has created an irresistibly likable character: an astronaut who gives the impression of still navigating by the seat of his pants-a bumbler but an inspired one. By investing Pirx with a range of human foibles, Lem offers a wonderful vision of the audacity, childlike curiosity, and intuition that can give humans the courage to confront outer space. Translated by Louis Iribarne. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

From the Back Cover

"A science fiction writer worthy of a Nobel Prize" -New York Times

Follow Pilot Pirx-a bumbling and irresistibly likeable astronaut-through five adventures set in a time when space travel has become routine. Pirx is charged with investigating strange space accidents, perhaps because his superiors appreciate his flair, or perhaps because they consider him expendable. The tales build to a towering climax when in the final installment, Pirx must decipher a spaceship's sinister past with the help of a robot's retentive memory.
At once audacious, childlike, and intuitive, the character of Pirx offers a wonderful vision of the very qualities that may, in the future, give us the courage to confront the vastness and uncertainty of outer space.

"Lem is not only a marvelous spinner of tales of the fantastic but also a challenging philosopher of the meanings and ramifications of technology." -Chicago Tribune

Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and he is the author of numerous works, including Solaris.