A century ago lyricist William Schwenck Gilbert and composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan met and formed a legendary partnership, out of which some of the world's best-known and -loved musical theater was created. Including such perennial favorites as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado, the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan have endured and increased in popularity to this day. Now renowned author and long-time G & S fan Isaac Asimov brings his masterful wit and understanding to a complete annotation of these classic works. Lucid, authoritative, and thoroughly entertaining, ASIMOV'S ANNOTATED GILBERT & SULLIVAN offers a fresh and illuminating interpretation of the artists' fourteen famous operettas. Here, Dr. Asimov skillfully guides the reader through every word, reference, and innuendo that needs clarification. With enthusiasm and insight, he identifies all the major characters, describes specific settings, and brings to light pertinent background information, such as when and where each play opened, how it was received by critics and audiences at the time, how its title was derived, and more. Like Asimov's Annotated Don Juan, Asimov's Annotated Paradise Lost, and Familiar Poems Annotated, this meticulously detailed volume provides a wealth of information essential for a full appreciation of the timeless works. Beautifully illustrated and written in the good doctor's inimitable style, ASIMOV'S ANNOTATED GILBERT & SULLIVAN at last makes the endearing charm of the world's favorite operettas accessible to armchair music lovers and seasoned theater aficionados alike. (Description from inside the book jacket flaps.)
Author
Isaac Asimov was a Russian-born, American author, a professor of biochemistry, and a highly successful writer, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Professor Asimov is generally considered one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He has works published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy). Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series, both of which he later tied into the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He penned numerous short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time, a title many still honor. He also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as a great amount of nonfiction. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French. Most of Asimov's popularized science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include his Guide to Science, the three volume set Understanding Physics, and Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs" He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, a Brooklyn, NY elementary school, and two different Isaac Asimov Awards are named in his honor.
