Anthony Boucher (born William Anthony Parker White) (August 21, 1911 April 29, 1968) was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to 'Anthony Boucher,' White also employed the pseudonym 'H. H. Holmes', which was the name of a 19th-century serial killer.
In a poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.
White was born in Oakland, California, and went to college at the University of Southern California. He later received a Masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He was admired for his mystery writing but was most noted for his editing, his science fiction anthologies, and his mystery reviews for many years in The New York Times. He was the first English translator of Jorge Luis Borges, translating "El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan" for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He helped found the Mystery Writers of America in 1946 and, in the same year, was one of the first winners of the MWA's Edgar Award for his mystery reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel Nine Times Nine was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time.
White was born in Oakland, California, and went to college at the University of Southern California. He later received a Masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He was admired for his mystery writing but was most noted for his editing, his science fiction anthologies, and his mystery reviews for many years in The New York Times. He was the first English translator of Jorge Luis Borges, translating "El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan" for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He helped found the Mystery Writers of America in 1946 and, in the same year, was one of the first winners of the MWA's Edgar Award for his mystery reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery
Series
Fergus O'Breen
1. The Case of the Crumpled Knave (1939)
2. The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars (1940)
aka Blood on Baker Street
3. The Case of the Solid Key (1941)
4. The Case of the Seven Sneezes (1942)
1. The Case of the Crumpled Knave (1939)
2. The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars (1940)
aka Blood on Baker Street
3. The Case of the Solid Key (1941)
4. The Case of the Seven Sneezes (1942)
Novels
Collections
Far and Away (1953)
The Compleat Werewolf (1969)
Exeunt Murderers (1983)
The Incompleat Boucher (1998)
The Compleat Boucher (1999)
The Compleat Werewolf (1969)
Exeunt Murderers (1983)
The Incompleat Boucher (1998)
The Compleat Boucher (1999)
Anthologies edited
Four and Twenty Bloodhounds (1950)
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume 1 (1959)
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume 2 (1959)
The Quintessence of Queen (1962)
Best American Detective Stories (1968)
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume 1 (1959)
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Volume 2 (1959)
The Quintessence of Queen (1962)
Best American Detective Stories (1968)
Omnibus editions
Series contributed to
Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction
1. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction (1952) (with J Francis McComas)
2. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 2nd Series (1953) (with J Francis McComas)
3. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 3rd Series (1954) (with J Francis McComas)
4. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 4th Series (1955)
5. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 5th Series (1956)
6. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 6th Series (1957)
7. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 7th Series (1958)
8. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 8th Series (1959) (with J Francis McComas)
1. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction (1952) (with J Francis McComas)
2. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 2nd Series (1953) (with J Francis McComas)
3. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 3rd Series (1954) (with J Francis McComas)
4. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 4th Series (1955)
5. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 5th Series (1956)
6. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 6th Series (1957)
7. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 7th Series (1958)
8. The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 8th Series (1959) (with J Francis McComas)
Anthologies containing stories by Anthony Boucher
Stories for Tomorrow (1954)
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 5th Series (1956)
A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1960)
Best SF 5 (1963)
Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales (1963)
The Unknown (1963)
Spectrum 4 (1965)
Gods for Tomorrow (1967)
One Hundred Years of Science Fiction (1968)
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978)
The Great SF Stories 3 (1980)
The Great SF Stories 4 (1980)
The Golden Age of Science Fiction (1981)
A Treasury of Modern Fantasy (1981)
The Great SF Stories 13 (1985)
Realms of Darkness (1985)
Doubles, Dummies and Dolls (1995)
100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)
Time Machines (1997)
The Fantasy Hall of Fame (1998)
aka The Mammoth Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats
The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1998)
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 5th Series (1956)
A Decade of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1960)
Best SF 5 (1963)
Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales (1963)
The Unknown (1963)
Spectrum 4 (1965)
Gods for Tomorrow (1967)
One Hundred Years of Science Fiction (1968)
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978)
The Great SF Stories 3 (1980)
The Great SF Stories 4 (1980)
The Golden Age of Science Fiction (1981)
A Treasury of Modern Fantasy (1981)
The Great SF Stories 13 (1985)
Realms of Darkness (1985)
Doubles, Dummies and Dolls (1995)
100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)
Time Machines (1997)
The Fantasy Hall of Fame (1998)
aka The Mammoth Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats
The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1998)
Short stories
Gandolphus | |||
Snulbug (1941) | |||
Barrier (1942) | |||
The Compleat Werewolf [short story] (1942) | |||
The Ghost of Me (1942) | |||
Q.U.R. (1942) (as by H H Holmes) | |||
They Bite (1942) | |||
Elsewhen (1943) | |||
Expedition (1943) | |||
Robinc (1943) | |||
Sriberdegibit (1943) | |||
Star Bride (1943) | |||
We Print the Truth (1943) | |||
Mr Lupescu (1945) | |||
The Pink Caterpillar (1945) | |||
Review Copy (1949) (as by H H Holmes) | |||
The Quest for Saint Aquin (1951) | |||
The Ambassadors (1952) | |||
The Anomaly of the Empty Man (1952) | |||
The First (1952) | |||
The Other Inauguration (1953) | |||
Secret of the House (1953) | |||
Balaam (1954) | |||
Report on the Sexual Behavior of the Extra-Sensory Perceptor (1954) (as by Herman W Mudgett) | |||
Nellthu (1955) | |||
A Shape in Time (1970) |
Anthony Boucher recommends

It's Cold Out There (1966)
Malcolm Braly
"Braly... exposes most of the toughly 'realistic' writers as naive romantics."

Gideon's Vote (1964)
(Gideon, book 10)
J J Marric (John Creasey)
"The novel is wholly admirable, and no one else could possibly have written it."

Undertow (1962)
(Johnny Fedora Espionage Assignment)
Desmond Cory
"For my money, Johnny Fedora, professional killer for British Intelligence, more than deserves to take over James Bond's avid audience."
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