"The Alley Man" was originally published in the June 1959 issue of F & SF, with a cover illustration by
Ed Emshwiller.
"The Alley Man" (1959) is a
science fiction short story by American writer
Philip José Farmer (1918-2009). It relates the life of Old Man Paley, who may or may not be the last
Neanderthal — or "
Paleolithic" man, as his name suggests[1] — still alive in the 20th century.
Publication history
"The Alley Man" was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June 1959. It was subsequently republished by
Ballantine Books in the 1962 compilation The Alley God, by
DAW Books in the 1973 compilation The Book of Philip José Farmer, by
Crown Publishers in the 1984 compilation The Classic Philip José Farmer 1952-1964, and in the 2006 anthology The Best of Philip José Farmer by
Subterranean Press.
P. Schuyler Miller called "The Alley Man" a "robust, rambling comic tragedy of a dying species, trying to keep its
heredity straight, clinging to its old legends, holding its own against the G'yaga, the False Folk who have inherited the Earth", described Paley as "
Alley Oop as seen by
Eugene O'Neill", and said that although the story itself was "negligible", the character of Paley "is everything".[3]
^The Magic Labyrinth of Philip José Farmer (The Milford Series, Popular Writers of Today, Vol. 38), by Edgar Chapman; published 1984 by
Borgo Press; "Paley claims to be the last true descendant of the paleolithic or neanderthal men (hence the name "Paley")"
"The Alley Man" was originally published in the June 1959 issue of F & SF, with a cover illustration by
Ed Emshwiller.
"The Alley Man" (1959) is a
science fiction short story by American writer
Philip José Farmer (1918-2009). It relates the life of Old Man Paley, who may or may not be the last
Neanderthal — or "
Paleolithic" man, as his name suggests[1] — still alive in the 20th century.
Publication history
"The Alley Man" was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in June 1959. It was subsequently republished by
Ballantine Books in the 1962 compilation The Alley God, by
DAW Books in the 1973 compilation The Book of Philip José Farmer, by
Crown Publishers in the 1984 compilation The Classic Philip José Farmer 1952-1964, and in the 2006 anthology The Best of Philip José Farmer by
Subterranean Press.
P. Schuyler Miller called "The Alley Man" a "robust, rambling comic tragedy of a dying species, trying to keep its
heredity straight, clinging to its old legends, holding its own against the G'yaga, the False Folk who have inherited the Earth", described Paley as "
Alley Oop as seen by
Eugene O'Neill", and said that although the story itself was "negligible", the character of Paley "is everything".[3]
^The Magic Labyrinth of Philip José Farmer (The Milford Series, Popular Writers of Today, Vol. 38), by Edgar Chapman; published 1984 by
Borgo Press; "Paley claims to be the last true descendant of the paleolithic or neanderthal men (hence the name "Paley")"