author
Christopher Anvil
1925–2009
A sharp, prolific science fiction writer, he built a long career on stories where human ingenuity often outsmarts bigger powers. Best known under the pen name Christopher Anvil, he became a familiar presence in mid-century magazine SF, especially in Astounding and Analog.
2 Audiobooks
Advance Agent
by Christopher Anvil
A Tourist Named Death
by Christopher Anvil
About the author
Born Harry Christopher Crosby in Norwich, Connecticut, on March 11, 1925, he wrote as Christopher Anvil for most of his career. His first published stories appeared in the early 1950s, and by 1956 he was publishing in Astounding, the magazine most closely associated with his name.
Anvil published more than 100 short stories as well as several novels, with his most active period in the 1950s and 1960s. Reference sources and field obituaries consistently note how often his work appeared in Astounding/Analog, where he became known for energetic, idea-driven science fiction.
He died at home in Cayuta, New York, on November 30, 2009, at the age of 84. While many readers know him through later book collections and reissues, his reputation was built above all on a large body of magazine fiction and a steady knack for clever, resilient characters.