Cyril M. Kornbluth

Cyril M. Kornbluth (July 23, 1923 - March 21, 1958) was a science fiction writer and a member of the Futurians.

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 of 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.

Kornbluth died at the age of 35 of a heart attack.

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

• Outpost Mars (with Judith Merrill), (first published as a Galaxy serial entitled Mars Child and AKA Sin in Space) 1951
• The Space Merchants (with Frederik Pohl), (first published as a Galaxy serial entitled Gravy Planet) 1952
• Gunner Cade (with Judith Merrill), 1952
• Takeoff, 1952
• The Syndic, 1953
• Gladiator at Law (with Frederik Pohl), (first published as a Galaxy serial) 1954
• Search the Sky (with Frederik Pohl), 1954
• Wolfbane (with Frederik Pohl), (first published as a Galaxy serial) 1954
• Not This August (AKA Christmas Eve), 1955

He also published several mystery novels, but he is not notable in that field.