Books - Murder at the ABA

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	Books - Murder at the ABA

Murder at the ABA (1976) is a mystery novel by Isaac Asimov, following the adventures of a writer and amateur detective named Darius Just (whom Asimov modeled on his friend Harlan Ellison). While attending a convention of the American Booksellers Association, Just discovers the dead body of a friend and protégé. Convinced that the death was due to murder, but unable to convince law enforcement, Just decides to investigate on his own.

The book is an example of metafiction, as Asimov himself appears as a character doing research for a murder mystery set at a booksellers' convention.

Origins

Asimov recounts the unusual history behind Murder at the ABA in his second autobiographical volume, In Joy Still Felt (1980). According to Asimov, a book named Murder at Frankfurt had been written, placing a fictional mystery story at the Frankfurt Book Fair. His Doubleday editor, Larry Ashmead, proposed that Asimov write a similar book about the American Booksellers Convention.

Asimov attended the ABA convention in New York City and absorbed enough "local color" to invent the setting, characters and "gimmick" of his mystery story. Ashmead then informed him that they needed the book in time for the next year's convention—which meant that Asimov had only three months in which to write it. (The only other novel he had written in such a short time was Fantastic Voyage, which was actually the novelization of a pre-existing screenplay.) Consequently, the novel is full of odd constructions, such as footnotes where the narrator and a character debate the narrator's storytelling style, which Asimov included knowing full well that critics would likely pan them. He needed the fun, he observed later, to keep himself working.

Characters

Almost all of the speaking parts in Murder at the ABA belong to fictitious persons. As part of the novel's ambiance, Asimov included several of the individuals who in fact attended the New York convention. Only one of them, Walter Sullivan of the New York Times, has any spoken dialogue. Sullivan only speaks when he is introduced to Darius Just; he says "Oh, yes" in such a convincing manner that Just is almost fooled into believing Sullivan has heard of him.

Fictional

Darius Just - narrator, a writer modeled on Harlan Ellison
Giles Devore - Just's protégé, author of Crossover and Evergone
Sarah Voskovek - public relations manager at the hotel where the convention occurs
Thomas and Theresa Valier - executives of Prism Press, Just and Devore's publisher
Roseann Bronstein - bookseller
Eunice Devore - lawyer, Giles Devore's wife
Henrietta Corvass - interview secretary for the ABA
Anthony Marsogliani - Chief of Hotel Security
Michael P. Strong - Hotel Security employee
Shirley Jennifer - writer of romance novels and close friend of Darius Just
Nellie Griswold - employee of Hercules Press

Cameos of real individuals

Isaac Asimov - eccentric and prolific writer who attends the convention gathering "local color" for a mystery
Charles Berlitz - mystic, participant on a panel
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - actor
Uri Geller - purported telekinetic, participant on a panel
Anita Loos - actress
Joe Namath's mother
Cathleen Nesbit - actress
Carl Sagan - astronomer, participant on a panel
Walter Sullivan - moderator of a panel discussion

References and links

Asimov, Isaac. Murder at the ABA (Doubleday: 1976). ISBN 0-38511-305-6.
Jenkins, John. Spoiler-Laden Guide, .
at Asimovians.com.

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