A Town Is Drowning

From the first edition's dust jacket:"Torn from today's headlines this novel takes you right into the heart of the new flood country, the Northeast United States which has generally been free of hurricanes and attendant floods. Now disaster has struck, more than once--terrible and grim."Although this novel will give you an accurate and brilliantly vivid picture of what it's like to live through a flood, even more importantly it will show you what the people are like who fought the catastrophe and how those who survived are still fighting. Through it all you will sense a growing feeling of pride--that despite the selfishness of some, the people of the town met the terrible onslaught with courage and a sense of mutual help."Already well known for their superb science fiction, Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth demonstrate here their equal power in the realistic contemporary novel."Five years--twenty-three books. Since 1951 Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth have produced--together, separately or working with others--just under two dozen novels, anthologies and collections of short stories. Nearly all of their works are science fiction--the sharply satirical 'The Space Merchants' and 'Gladiator'at-Law,' which they wrote in collaboration; Mr. Kornbluth's brilliantly executed studies of the near future in 'Not This August' and 'Takeoff'; Mr. Pohl's celebrated series of 'Star Science Fiction Stories.'"It took an act of God to turn the joint efforts of this team away from the world of tomorrow and make them focus their attention on the dramatic events of today."The series of storms that lashed the Eastern states in 1954 and 1955 cost Mr. Pohl a roof and Mr. Kornbluth a cellar, for what missed Mr. Pohl on the Jersey shore turned and drove through the upstate New York area where Mr. Kornbluth lives. 'A Town is Drowning' was begun while the repairmen were still at work."Now thirty-six, Frederik Pohl has spent nearly two decades in the world of publishing--magazine and book editor, writer and anthologist, literary agent, advertising copywriter and magazine circulation expert. At thirty-two, Mr. Kornbluth's career has included five years as Bureau Chief of a national news wire service. Both now devote full time to writing, principally novels, with several new titles scheduled to appear within the next year."