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Greenberg, Martin H

Entry updated 18 March 2024. Tagged: Author, Editor.

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(1941-2011) US anthologist and academic, not to be confused with Martin Greenberg, no relation. He had a 1969 doctorate in Political Science and taught at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay since 1975, holding the position of Professor of Regional Analysis, Political Science, and Literature and Language, from which he retired in 1996. Most of his own writing, like Bureaucracy and Development: A Mexican Case Study (1970), was in the field of political science; his sf writing was restricted to two reference tools, Index to Stories in the Thematic Anthologies of Science Fiction (1978) with Joseph D Olander and Marshall B Tymn, and Science Fiction and Fantasy Series and Sequels: A Bibliography – Volume 1: Books (1986) with Tim Cottrill (1958-    ) and Charles G Waugh.

As a creator and marketer of Anthologies – sf and fantasy (with which we incorporate his numerous supernatural fiction anthologies) being the most influential and numerous, though he also edited many detective and Western anthologies as well – Greenberg became a dominant figure in the 1970s, working both solo and with colleagues, usually Olander and Waugh, either separately or together, and with the occasional collaboration of Greenberg's wife, Rosalind M Greenberg; he retained that dominance until his death, in a constantly changing market environment. Team anthologies – anthologies put together by two or more professional anthologists who divide up the various tasks involved, which include everything from story research and selection through copyright searches down to selling the actual book – were not unknown before Greenberg began to work, but he very quickly established himself in a commanding position, and by 2011 had published well in excess of 1000 anthologies in various fields, primarily assembling reprint and original material of interest to sf and fantasy readers; more frequently in his later career, his contribution to books was anonymous, and it became increasingly difficult to maintain an accurate checklist of his output. His efficiency as an anthologist is self-evident, and the quality of the product is rarely negligible, though some titles showed a lack of daring in their selection of contents: this flatness stands in odd contrast to the imaginativeness of most of the concepts presented, for it is clear that Greenberg had a high talent for conceiving hook themes and titles; a characteristic almost as important, perhaps, as the consistent efficiency and reliability of his output.

Most of the huge array is made up of fiction anthologies, but several nonfiction titles appeared, including the Writers of the Twenty-First Century series of anthologies reprinting critical articles on major writers, all edited with Joseph D Olander: Isaac Asimov (anth 1977), Ray Bradbury (anth 1980), Arthur C. Clarke (anth 1977), Philip K. Dick (anth 1983), Robert A. Heinlein (anth 1978) and Ursula K. Le Guin (anth 1979). Other nonfiction anthologies include Fantastic Lives: Autobiographical Essays by Notable Science Fiction Writers (anth 1981), The End of the World (anth 1983) with Olander and Eric S Rabkin, The Legacy of Olaf Stapledon (anth 1989) with Charles Elkins and Patrick A McCarthy, and No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction (anth 1983) with Olander and Rabkin.

Of the fiction anthologies, many were edited by Greenberg either alone or with his team (by which term we refer not to contractual relationships – about which we claim no knowledge – but to the editing partnerships so clearly in evidence); in addition a large number also credit as co-editor a "name" writer – often a fiction author associated with the subject of the book in question. Although it is probable that some of these "name" editors did little more than approve contents assembled by the team, most of the Greenberg "name" anthologies were genuine collaborative efforts. Of Greenberg's collaborators (some are academics who were not part of the Greenberg team), the following are among those who are primarily writers rather than anthologists: Robert Adams, Poul Anderson, Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov (with at least 127 titles to his name), Gregory Benford, Robert Bloch, Orson Scott Card, Terry Carr, Arthur C Clarke, David A Drake, Alan Dean Foster, Andrew M Greeley (with Michael Cassutt), Damon Knight, Barry N Malzberg, Richard Matheson, Walter M Miller Jr, William F Nolan, Andre Norton, Frederik Pohl, Bill Pronzini, Fred Saberhagen, Robert Silverberg, S M Stirling, Robert E Weinberg, Connie Willis and Jane Yolen. See Checklist for titles.

The first Greenberg anthologies, beginning with Political Science Fiction (anth 1974) with Patricia Warrick, and ending with Dawn of Time: Prehistory Through Science Fiction (anth 1979) with Silverberg and Joseph D Olander, were clearly designed to appeal to teachers; opinions were strongly divided about the usefulness of their accompanying critical apparatus. They were not addressed to a wide audience. Later titles, which tended to appeal to more general markets, lacked pedagogical aids and began to feature the name collaborators listed above.

It has not proved useful to distinguish the very large range of Greenberg anthologies edited solo from the vast range of anthologies created in collaboration; we now therefore list his work without separating solo from collaborative volumes. The topical range of these anthologies is enormous, and many of them are cited in relevant theme entries throughout this encyclopedia. Moreover, given the extremely wide thematic concerns addressed here, in works both collaborative and solo, it has seemed convenient, against normal practice in this Encyclopedia, to link from the Checklist to relevant theme entries in the Encyclopedia. These links appear below, in the Comment Field section in the ascription of each relevant title. Readers who wish to follow these links will be able to explore a wide range of themes contained in the current version of the Encyclopedia. [JC]

see also: Alternate History; Amazing Stories; Anthropology; Children in SF; Computers; Critical and Historical Works About SF; Greenwood Press; Longevity in Writers; The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; Shared Worlds; Sociology.

Martin Harry Greenberg

born Miami Beach, Florida: 1 March 1941

died Green Bay, Wisconsin: 25 June 2011

works as editor

series

Through Science Fiction

Science Fiction of the Decade

Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories

Fawcett Science Fiction Series

Arbor House Treasury

3000

This sequence should not be confused with 3000 Military Science Fiction below.

Nineteenth Century

Science Fiction Shorts

  • After the End (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]
  • Earth Invaded (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]
  • Mad Scientists (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]
  • Mutants (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]
  • Thinking Machines (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]
  • Tomorrow's TV (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/Greg Hargreaves]
  • Travels through Time (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/Thomas Leonard]
  • Wild Inventions (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishers, 1982) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: chap: Science Fiction Shorts: hb/]

Magical Worlds of Fantasy

Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction

Young ...

Children of the Future

  • Children of the Future (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishing, 1984) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: Children of the Future: hb/Joe van Severen]
  • Bug Awful (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishing, 1984) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: Children of the Future: hb/William Ersland]
  • Time Warps (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishing, 1984) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: Children of the Future: hb/Richard Nass and Rhonda Nass]
  • The Immortals (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Raintree Publishing, 1984) with Isaac Asimov and Charles G Waugh [anth: Children of the Future: hb/Joel Naprstek]

Baker's Dozen

Mammoth books

Amazing

Ace/Tor Military Science Fiction

Barbarians

  • Barbarians (New York: New American Library, 1986) with Robert Adams and Charles G Waugh [anth: Barbarians: pb/Ken Kelly]
  • Barbarians II (New York: New American Library, 1986) with Robert Adams, Patricia (sic) Crippen Adams and Charles G Waugh (Greenberg anonymous) [anth: Barbarians: pb/Ken Kelly]

Harper Young Adult

American Ghosts

Hugo Winners

See also Hugo Anthologies.

What Might Have Been?

Further Adventures

Catfantastic

Isaac Asimov's Universe

Grail

Alternate

100

3000 Military Science Fiction

Fantastic

Stalkers

Ultimate

Lighthouse

Phobias

Enchantresses

Sisters in Fantasy

American Vampires

Files

Lords of Light

  • Lords of Light (New York: St Martin's Press, 1999) "created" with Deepak Chopra [Lords of Light: pb/uncredited]
  • Deepak Chopra's The Angel Is Near (New York: St Martin's Press, 2000) "created" with Deepak Chopra [Lords of Light: pb/uncredited]

My Favorite

Best SF

Newbery Authors Collection

Beginnings

Novel Ideas

individual titles and short series

nonfiction

Writers of the Twenty-First Century

  • Isaac Asimov (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1977) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/uncredited]
  • Arthur C. Clarke (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1977) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/Rus Anderson]
  • Robert A. Heinlein (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1978) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/uncredited]
  • Ursula K. Le Guin (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1979) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/uncredited]
  • Ray Bradbury (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1980) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/uncredited]
  • Philip K. Dick (New York: Taplinger Publishing Co, 1983) with Joseph D Olander [nonfiction: anth: Writers of the Twenty-First Century: hb/uncredited]

individual nonfiction titles as editor

links

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