- Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
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Maureen Birnbaum,
Barbarian SwordspersonAuthor(s) George Alec Effinger Publisher Doubleday Books Publication date June 1993 Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback) ISBN ISBN 978-1568651019 (hc) OCLC Number 31129110 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson is a 1993 anthology by George Alec Effinger, with cover and interior illustrations by Ken Kelly. They collect all of his stories about Maureen 'Muffy' Birnbaum, a Jewish American Princess who is magically teleported to various fantasy and science fiction universes, and later recounts the tales to her best friend, 'Bitsy' Spiegelman. Originally written on his own initiative, the character proved popular enough for Effinger to gain several requests from authors to have versions of their work visited by Muffy.
In addition to satirizing and spoofing the various stories, they had a feminist undertone, as Maureen dealt with the often sexist reactions of the inhabitants of the worlds she met, struggled to find the Martian prince she had fallen in love with, and contrasted her adventures with Bitsy, a housewife with an increasingly unhappy marriage.
Table of contents
Title Story mocked Original publication Notes A Few Words from Muffy Birnbaum's Most Passionate Admirer –– This volume Introduction by Mike Resnick Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson Barsoom The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1982 Maureen Birnbaum at the Earth's Core Pellucidar The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1986 Maureen Birnbaum on the Art of War Horseclans Friends of the Horseclans, 1987 Maureen Birnbaum After Dark "Nightfall" Foundation's Friends, 1989 Maureen Birnbaum Goes Shopynge Robin Hood The Fantastic Adventures of Robin Hood, 1991 Maureen Birnbaum and the Saint Graal Grail legend This volume Written for an anthology of Holy Grail stories Maureen Birnbaum and the Looming Awfulness Cthulhu Mythos This volume Maureen Birnbaum's Lunar Adventure None This volume Revised from an earlier version written for a science fiction convention booklet Other stories
- "Maureen Birnbaum in the MUD" appeared in the 1995 anthology Chicks in Chainmail.
- "Maureen Birnbaum Pokes an Eye Out" appeared in the 1996 anthology Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear.
External links
- Amazon.com: Maureen Birnbaum: Barbarian Swordsperson: The Complete Stories
- Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Categories:- Modern Arthurian fiction
- Barsoom
- Cthulhu Mythos anthologies
- Feminist science fiction
- Fictional characters from New York
- Fictional immortals
- Moon in fiction
- Pellucidar
- Science fiction short story collections
- Science fiction characters
- Works inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs
- 1993 short story collections
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