NF

A curious entry in the autobiographical material of Asimov's life. If you have no other resources, or your only other resource is the slim "I, Asimov", then you may find more enjoyment in this book. Personally, I found it to be a somewhat disjointed collection of excerpts from the longer autobiography that he wrote (I've read "In Memory Yet Green" and "In Joy Still Felt", which covered 1920-1978). Unfortunately, this is about the best you're going to find these days, especially if you're looking for a digital book. Ye olde paper books are rare and out of print as near as I can tell, so this is the best of what you can find, but don't think you've found the best. ( )

A funny and inspiring read about Isaac Asimov's life. I was surprised by the number of non-fiction books he has written and impressed by his passion for self-education and then passing knowledge on to others.
It was interested to read about his journey through life and his approach to writing. Since reading this, I definitely want to read more of his books.
( )

It should be said right up front that this is sort of a strange book. This is not his autobiography as Asimov wrote it. During his life Asimov published three volumes of autobiography. After he died, his (second) wife edited these volumes, supplementing with letters she and Asimov exchanged, and also added an afterword. There is often very little and sometimes no transition between excerpts from his original volumes, which can be jarring. In places, it feels as if you're always coming in during the middle of a story. I do not know how much was cut out, or why, but given the strength of Asimov's writing on nearly every subject, I cannot imagine that the missing material was dry or uninteresting. Perhaps Janet (his wife) felt there was just too much of it.

That issue aside, Good Life is a fascinating and enjoyable read. I had enjoyed all of Asimov's work that I had read before -- The Foundation Trilogy and some of his robot stories, but I had absolutely no idea how tiny a portion of his writings this made up! He wrote hundreds of books -- both fiction and nonfiction, as well as edited probably dozens of anthologies and his own SF journal. While he was a scientist, he was a far better writer and educator than researcher, so it wasn't long before he managed to get out of his research duties altogether in order to devote himself to his true calling -- that of amassing, processing, and conveying information. He could become an expert on virtually any topic, write a book on it, then move on to the next interesting idea. As much as he is known for his SF, his fiction writing seemed often to be something that was squeezed in when time allowed rather than the focus of his life.

He's just plain brilliant and funny, and that comes across very well in this book. I was away from home for a few days while I read this, and I kept a list on the back of my bookmark of all the anecdotes and their page numbers that I had to read to Andrew when I got home.

Also included was his favorite short story (that he wrote), which was indeed wonderful (and which I cannot read aloud without at least verging on tears.) And in the afterword -- Janet reveals for the first time that what Asimov finally died of was AIDS (contracted via blood transfusion during an operation.) They kept it quiet for fear of prejudice, and because another public figure had recently revealed they had AIDS -- so they didn't feel the revelation would add anything to the cause or the public good.

I must just go back to say it was a particular joy to read Asimov speak of "the problem" of women in science fiction -- particularly why he had so few female characters in his early writing, but then as he was married and began to know other women professionally, his work included more and stronger women. I also really enjoyed when he briefly wrote about the other popular SF writers in that age of SF when Asimov, Heinlein, Dick, etc. were churning out novels. I would so love to read a history of that period -- those men and their relations, how their writing was affected by the Cold War and the dawn of nukes, etc. I wonder if such a book exists?

Anyway, even for the choppiness of some of the material, the uneven way different periods and subjects were treated, etc., on the whole, this book was pretty delightful. I was left convicted that I need to increase the size of my Asimov library -- and look for that book on the early greats of science fiction! ( )

This is an autobiography put together by Asimov's wife using his own words from other writings and letters. It gives good insight into Asimov's thinking and personality with highlights of his life and major writings. The book includes his favorite short story in the Appendix along with a complete bibliography according to subject and indexed. Originally I got the book from the library, but decided to buy the ebook version for reference. You'll want to read this if you are an Asimov fan. ( )