199 downloads since release date: 1 January 2021
Last updated 8 December 2023 13:26If you enjoy any of the free ebooks on this site, a donation to TAFF is a fine way to express your appreciation:
Atom Abroad
Arthur “Atom” Thomson
ISBN 978-1-913451-76-9
The popular fanzine illustrator Atom’s lively report of his 1964 trip to the USA and Pacificon II – that year’s Worldcon, held in Oakland, California – was published in March 1967. (The original has no date, but its completion and availability at Easter [26 March] were announced that month in Ethel Lindsay’s Scottishe #43.) Our hero’s adventures include crossing the USA in a noisily dysfunctional car that eventually burst into flames, driving on the wrong side of Route 66, and being robbed of all his cash in a California motel – all paling into insignificance beside the terrors of the Sam Moskowitz Speech From Hell.
This Ansible Editions ebook version was added to the TAFF library on 1 January 2021. Cover art and selected interior illustrations by Atom himself, plus photos from the Vince Clarke collection. 35,000 words.
• Details of the 1964 TAFF race and voting can be found here.
From the Introduction
Atom Abroad is an attempt to set down some thoughts and impressions of a four week TAFF trip across America by a Fan artist whose only claim to literary merit is that he can draw funny critters. It is also an attempt to say thank you to a great number of people who made this trip possible, and for the hospitality and welcome given by American fans to this funny critter drawer.
