The Demolished Man

#4 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written.

The first Hugo Award winner for best novel in 1953.

"One of the all-time classics of science fiction."—Isaac Asimov

"Besters two superb books have stood the test of time. For nearly sixty years theyve held their place on everybodys list of the ten greatest sf novels"

—Robert Silverberg

In a world policed by telepaths, Ben Reich plans to commit a crime that hasnt been heard of in 70 years: murder. Thats the only option left for Reich, whose company is losing a 10-year death struggle with rival DCourtney Enterprises. Terrorized in his dreams by The Man With No Face and driven to the edge after DCourtney refuses a merger offer, Reich murders his rival and bribes a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks. But while police prefect Lincoln Powell knows Reich is guilty, his telepaths knowledge is a far cry from admissible evidence.

Alfred Bester was among the first important authors of contemporary science fiction. His passionate novels of worldly adventure, high intellect, and tremendous verve, The Stars My Destination and the Hugo Award winning The Demolished Man, established Bester as a s.f. grandmaster, a reputation that was ratified by the Science Fiction Writers of America shortly before his death. Bester also was an acclaimed journalist for Holiday magazine, a reviewer for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and even a writer for Superman.

ALFRED BESTER was born in New York in 1913. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, he sold several stories to Thrilling Wonder Stories in the early 194s. He then embarked on a career as a scripter for comics, radio, and television, where he worked on such classic characters as Superman, Batman, Nick Carter, Charlie Chan, Tom Corbett, and the Shadow. In the 195s, he returned to prose, publishing several short stories and two brilliant, seminal works, The Demolished Man (which was the first winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel) and The Stars My Destination, In the late 1950s, he wrote travel articles for Holiday magazine, and eventually became their Senior Literary Editor, keeping the position until the magazine folded in the 197s. In 1974, he once again came back to writing science fiction with the novels The Computer Connection, Golem1, and The Deceivers, and numerous short stories. A collection of his short stories, Virtual Unrealities, was published in 1997. After being a New Yorker all his life, he died in Pennsylvania in 1987, but not before he was honored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America with a Grandmaster Award.