Cyril M. Kornbluth

Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European Theatre). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge. After his discharge, he returned to finish his education at the University of Chicago, which had been interrupted by the war.

His short fiction includes "The Little Black Bag," "The Marching Morons," "The Altar at Midnight," "Ms. Found in a Chinese Fortune Cookie," "Gomez," and "The Advent on Channel 12." "The Marching Morons" is his most famous short story; it is a satirical look at an overpopulated future, with a population consisting of a few geniuses and a huge number of stupid people, in which the few geniuses are working desperately to keep things running from behind the scenes. Part of its appeal is that readers tend to identify with the oppressed geniuses.

The Little Black Baf was adapted for television by the BBC in 1969 for its Out of the Unknown series.

Many of his novels were written as collaborations: either with Judith Merril (using the pseudonym "Cyril Judd"), or with Frederik Pohl. A number of short stories remained unfinished at Kornbluth's death; these were eventually completed and published by Pohl.

Kornbluth died at the age of 34 of a heart attack in Waverly, New York although he had lived primarily in Chicago.

All of Kornbluth's short stories have been collected as His Share of Glory: The Complete Short Fiction of C. M. Kornbluth (NESFA Press, 1997).

Selected bibliography