Clouston, J Storer
Entry updated 29 May 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1870-1944) Scottish magistrate and author, in Orkney from around 1903, best-known for such humorous work as the Lunatic series of spoof adventures beginning with The Lunatic at Large (1899), all nonfantastic [not listed in Checklist below]. He began writing works of genre interest with Vandrad the Viking; or, the Feud and the Spell (dated 1898 but 1897), a Fantasy involving seers and curses. The Prodigal Father (1909) is a Time in Reverse tale whose dignified protagonist begins to grow younger, much against his will. Tales of King Fido (coll of linked stories 1909) is a Graustarkian fantasy (see George Barr McCutcheon; Ruritania). The protagonist of Two's Two (1916), an F Anstey-like tale, is responsible for a chemical Invention which creates an alter ego (see Doppelgangers) whose disruptive personality clearly manifests a suppressed (but rather attractive) version of the inventor's psyche. Button Brains (1933), about a mechanical Robot (not an Android) that is taken for the human upon which it was modelled, turns on the human's pretending to be a robot, with comic consequences. The Chemical Baby (1934) spoofs Eugenics through two (failed) experiments, one designed to create a pacifism serum, the other to breed a homunculus for dubious purposes. Not Since Genesis (1938) provides a Satirical look at the End of the World through the responses of European nations faced by a potential meteor Disaster. The Man in Steel (1939) is a Time-Travel tale whose minister protagonist finds himself in pre-Christian Orkney. As an author of Scientific Romances, Clouston is unusual for his light touch (see Humour). [JC/JE]
Joseph Storer Clouston
born Carlisle, Cumberland: 23 May 1870
died Orphir, Orkney, Scotland: 23 June 1944
works
- Vandrad the Viking; or, the Feud and the Spell (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1897) [book is dated 1898: hb/Hubert Paton]
- The Prodigal Father (London: Mills and Boon, 1909) [hb/]
- Tales of King Fido (London: Mills and Boon, 1909) [coll of linked stories: hb/]
- Two's Two (Edinburgh, Scotland: William Blackwood and Sons, 1916) [first appeared 1916 Blackwood's Magazine: hb/C S]
- Button Brains (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1933) [hb/]
- The Chemical Baby (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1934) [hb/A B Studio]
- Not Since Genesis (London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1938) [hb/]
- The Man in Steel (London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1939) [hb/]
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