Case history debate Linebarger is long rumored to have been "Kirk Allen", the fantasy-haunted subject of "The Jet-Propelled Couch," a chapter in psychologist Robert M. Lindner's best-selling 1954 collection The Fifty-Minute Hour.Lindner, Robert. The Fifty-Minute Hour. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1954. According to Cordwainer Smith scholar Alan C. Elms, this speculation first reached print in Brian Aldiss's 1973 history of science fiction, Billion Year Spree; Aldiss, in turn, claimed to have received the information from science fiction fan and scholar Leon Stover.Aldiss, Brian W. Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction. New York: Doubleday, 1973. More recently, both Elms and librarian Lee WeinsteinWeinstein, Lee. "In Search of Kirk Allen," New York Review of Science Fiction, April 2001. have gathered circumstantial evidence to support the case for Linebarger's being Allen, but both concede there is no direct proof that Linebarger was ever a patient of Lindner's or that he suffered from a disorder similar to that of Kirk Allen.
Case history debate Linebarger is long rumored to have been "Kirk Allen" the fantasy-haunted subject of "The Jet-Propelled Couch" a chapter in psychologist Robert M Lindner's best-selling 1954 collection The Fifty-Minute HourLindner Robert The Fifty-Minute Hour New York Holt Rinehart & Winston 1954 According to Cordwainer Smith scholar Alan C Elms this speculation first reached print in Brian Aldiss's 1973 history of science fiction Billion Year Spree; Aldiss in turn claimed to have received the information from science fiction fan and scholar Leon StoverAldiss Brian W Billion Year Spree The True History of Science Fiction New York Doubleday 1973 More recently both Elms and librarian Lee WeinsteinWeinstein Lee "In Search of Kirk Allen" New York Review of Science Fiction April 2001 have gathered circumstantial evidence to support the case for Linebarger's being Allen but both concede there is no direct proof that Linebarger was ever a patient of Lindner's or that he suffered from a disorder similar to that of Kirk Allen