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In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography, 1920-1954 (The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov #1)
by
Isaac Asimov
Alternate cover for ISBN 9780380754328.
This autobiography is detailed, showing how the Russian-speaking youth moved from being an English-illiterate to the self-taught genius that all came to know. It relates how he heard people pronounce street names, examined the street signs & figured out how to read before he began his formal education. This is the story as told wh ...more
This autobiography is detailed, showing how the Russian-speaking youth moved from being an English-illiterate to the self-taught genius that all came to know. It relates how he heard people pronounce street names, examined the street signs & figured out how to read before he began his formal education. This is the story as told wh ...more
Hardcover
,
744 pages
Published
February 1st 1979
by Doubleday & Co. (Garden City, NY)
(first published January 1979)
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Community Reviews
(showing
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671)
Aug 26, 2010
Mary JL
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of auto biographies, ,SF, or fans of Asimov
Recommended to Mary JL by:
No one--fan of author
Shelves:
history-biography
When Isaac Asimov gets going on a subject, he can write extensively on it. This is Volume I of his autobiography, over 1,000 pages.
When his publisher first proposed this, he mentioned nothing ever happened to him. He tells the joke on himself, when he shows up with this huge manuscript, the publisher wonders aloud what it would be like if something HAD happened to him!
But it is not just about Asimov. It tells a lot about the history and customs in the US from 1920 to 1954. It contains lots of in ...more
When his publisher first proposed this, he mentioned nothing ever happened to him. He tells the joke on himself, when he shows up with this huge manuscript, the publisher wonders aloud what it would be like if something HAD happened to him!
But it is not just about Asimov. It tells a lot about the history and customs in the US from 1920 to 1954. It contains lots of in ...more
I have read this book a couple of times. Some it was laughing out loud funny, some poignant. This and the sequel I re-read during one of my exercise kicks and they were the only books that could distract me from the monotony of the exercise bike.
Probably one of the best autobiographies I've ever read. I feel as though I've known Asimov for years (albeit not just through his writings). Lots of fun. Wordy, but worth every little detail he adds.
I loved every page of this. This was one of the first biographies I read as a kid. It made me realize that even common lives are
interesting
.
Sep 27, 2014
Daniel A.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
hardcore science fiction aficionados
Shelves:
aspergers-related
,
autobiography
,
memoir
,
nonfiction
,
science-fiction-biography
,
science-fiction-history
Perhaps the most salient thing I gleaned from
In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954
was that
Isaac Asimov
had a major case of Asperger's going, even if no one had identified the syndrome yet at the time he wrote this first extensive volume of his autobiography. From his often particular memories of even the most trivial events, to his clearly well-above-average intelligence coupled with his resistance to conventional education, as well as his frequent social awkwardne
...more
The Good Doctor's autobiography of his first thiry-four years, as told "in excruciating detail" according to The Good Doctor himself.
Энциклопедическая эрудиция, тонкая самоирония, полная открытость перед читателем, идеальная память... Эти мемуары читаются как репортаж развесистого симпатяги, который готов говорить обо всём, что он видит и что приходит ему на ум. Мысль уклонилась вправо, в сторону, вверх, наискосок, поклон, а вот ещё кусочек - так много всего забавного, важного, познавательного, столько интересных наблюдений, портретов, тем, книг!
Как ему удавалось при всей этой свободе движений ни разу не потерять равновесия, ...more
Как ему удавалось при всей этой свободе движений ни разу не потерять равновесия, ...more
As endless as I remember from when I was a teenager, Asimov was my favorite writer, and I finished every book I started on principle. I'm much better at skimming uninteresting sections these days, and I have different principles when it comes to reading, shall we say. What else was bothersome? Asimov's deepseated prejudices against anyone who had a slightly different sort of intelligence than he did, anyone who isn't, in fact, Isaac Asimov, becomes extremely grating. His assumptions about whole
...more
well, I don't know how to rate this thing. As an autobiography it's kind of terrible. By the end I somehow had stockholm syndrome and enjoyed it. Look, I make stupid agreements, and I stick to 'em.
Thoughts after visiting his archive:
This guy was a jerk. He's got this air of folly about him, and one that makes me want to excuse everything. He's not trying to be a jerk, he's well meaning and just doesn't know any better. He's just trying to be honest and straight forward.
Well, he says nasty thin ...more
Thoughts after visiting his archive:
This guy was a jerk. He's got this air of folly about him, and one that makes me want to excuse everything. He's not trying to be a jerk, he's well meaning and just doesn't know any better. He's just trying to be honest and straight forward.
Well, he says nasty thin ...more
Entertaining, informative, and perhaps the most well-written book of this fascinating man's whole career. He is at turns candid, self-deprecating and -- um, what's that term that means the opposite of "self-deprecating"? Oh yeah, an EGOMANIAC. But a charming one.
This autobiography provides an intimate look into the progress of one the great science authors (both fiction and non-fiction). The personal details and life experiences are both entertaining and inspiring. This volume and its companion
In Joy Still Felt
are worthwhile reads revealing both the mundane and outstanding sides of some of Asimov's life.
A good insight into what Isaac thought about his life, and the events in it.
While you get get an idea about a writer from his/her writings, what authors have to say directly about their lives, themselves, and what happened to them makes them more human somehow.
And I think Isaac is pretty honest about himself in this book.
While you get get an idea about a writer from his/her writings, what authors have to say directly about their lives, themselves, and what happened to them makes them more human somehow.
And I think Isaac is pretty honest about himself in this book.
I take for granted that many people who autobiographies are full of themselves. But Asimov takes being full of yourself to a whole new level.
First of the Asimov autobiographies. Over a 1000 pages and very interesting reading. This is where I learned about Gilbert and Sullivan.
Every detail covered...and more! That's just the first half of his life. But, because I'm such a rabid fan, I read every word.
Asimov's autobiographies are throughly compelling. His most fascinating subject, indeed!
His Autobiography and in typical Asimov Style, titled Volume 1!
4/24/2014 -- I am reading this for the 3rd time.
A fun and unexpectedly funny autobiography. Learned a lot about the psyche of the New York immigrant pre-WW2 and about the various elements of life that only a Russian-born Jew living in Brooklyn could write about.
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Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books.
Professor Asimov is generally considered the most prolific writer of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the te ...more
More about Isaac Asimov...
Professor Asimov is generally considered the most prolific writer of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the te ...more
“Despite all that education and experience can do, I retain a certain level of unsophistication that I cannot eradicate and that my friends find amusing. In fact, I think I sometimes detect conspiratorial plottings among my friends to protect me against my own lack of sophistication. I don't mind. I suspect that I am never quite as unsophisticated as they think I am, but I don't mind.”
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