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them; they have come from the west, with orders to deliver gold from Fort Knox, and have not been exposed to the virus. Gary offers to fix a tire, but does so in such a way that it slowly loses air; he catches up with the convoy and through a combination of stealth and boldness, kills most of the men and takes one of the trucks. He drives to the bridge on the
Mississippi where the men had been planning to cross over. Masquerading as one of them, he is allowed to cross. From there he escapes into the country side; he is labeled an "enemy agent" and a manhunt is initiated but he evades capture. However, everyone he comes in close contact with succumbs to the plague. He finally realizes that he has no future in the west and returns over the river, to survive for a number of years until he encounters the girl he had met in Illinois.
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and, after filling it with supplies, drive toward
Chicago, which they find to be in flames. They drive west, only to discover that almost all bridges over the Mississippi have been disabled; the one remaining bridge is guarded by army troops on the western side, who shoot anyone attempting to cross over. The girl abandons him; as he travels further, Gary learns that the nuclear attack was combined with
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the murder; he discovers that the body has been partially dismembered and concludes that the men were cannibals. He takes the girl to her home, a farmhouse where both mother and father are still alive. Out of gratitude, the father offers to provide lodging if Gary will guard the farm. Gary agrees and spends the winter there.
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The following winter he finds himself near the Canada–US border. He awakes one night in an abandoned car and sees a young girl running toward him, pursued by men with guns. Gary shoots the men and saves the girl, who tells him that the men have killed her brother. She leads Gary back to the scene of
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Gary, an army corporal, wakes up in a hotel room in
Illinois following a drunken binge. He discovers that the town is deserted except for a handful of corpses and comes to the realization that the country has been subjected to an attack. He discovers one other survivor, a girl of 19. They take a car
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Cyril M. Kornbluth wrote that Tucker's original ending had the protagonist eat his erstwhile mistress, but that Tucker's editor persuaded him to have the two join forces instead. Tucker's original ending was first published, with the author's cooperation, in the
Swedish translation of the book that
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The following spring he sets off toward
Washington DC, hoping to find remnants of the government. While passing through Ohio he chances upon a convoy of army trucks under attack. He joins the attack and saves the convoy. The commanding officer thanks him, but makes it clear that he can not join
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Gary is nevertheless determined to cross over. He joins up with a former school teacher, Jay Oliver; they make camp in the hills outside an intact bridge in
Kentucky, waiting for the army to allow people across. A woman joins them, trading sex for food. After realizing that the quarantine is
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a phenomenally good book ... The plotting is close-knit without being contrived; the style is compact and eloquent; the characters, in
Faulkner's words, "stand up on their hind legs and cast a shadow." ... The book is honest, courageous, deeply felt.
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which infected the entire population with pneumonic plague. Only those rare individuals with natural resistance have survived, but since they are carriers of the disease, the entire eastern third of the country has been quarantined.
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permanent, the three decide to go to
Florida for the winter where they find a fisherman's cabin on the Gulf coast. After a few months the woman becomes pregnant and expresses her preference for Oliver; Gary decides to leave.
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269:". He suggested that the novel was overlooked because publishers chose to market it as science fiction rather than as mainstream fiction.
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along the
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also praised the novel, writing that it was "a book of social criticism which might have had the effect of an
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which wipes out every major city east of the
Mississippi and leaves the survivors permanently infected with
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praised Tucker's writing for its "strikingly effective simplicity."
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145:. It was first published in hardback edition by
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284:appeared as "Den långa tystnaden" in 1979.
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452:Books with cover art by Richard M. Powers
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153:paperback editions in 1952 and 1954.
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399:, Chicago: Advent (published 1959)
314:"Philcon Progress Report Number 4"
177:The story takes place following a
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442:American post-apocalyptic novels
316:. August 1, 1953. Archived from
294:Cannibalism in popular culture
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437:1952 science fiction novels
16:1952 novel by Wilson Tucker
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239:In his "Books" column for
409:"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf",
397:The Science Fiction Novel
141:novel by American writer
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447:Novels by Wilson Tucker
373:"Recommended Reading,"
200:bacteriological warfare
412:Galaxy Science Fiction
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20:The Long Loud Silence
415:, February 1953, p.99
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228:The Long Loud Silence
162:The Long Loud Silence
149:in 1952, followed by
134:The Long Loud Silence
432:1952 American novels
379:, January 1953, p.90
320:on February 21, 2017
265:or Upton Sinclair's
393:Kornbluth, Cyril M.
345:In Search of Wonder
158:Hugo Awards in 1953
31:First edition cover
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364:, April 1960, p.99
348:. Chicago: Advent.
279:Manuscript changes
259:Cyril M. Kornbluth
219:Critical reception
170:for the inaugural
167:The Demolished Man
147:Rinehart & Co.
263:Uncle Tom's Cabin
179:nuclear holocaust
164:placed second to
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322:. Retrieved
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426:Categories
300:References
267:The Jungle
172:Best Novel
358:"Books",
112:Paperback
108:Hardcover
75:Publisher
376:F&SF
361:F&SF
342:(1967).
288:See also
242:F&SF
193:Synopsis
79:Rinehart
57:Language
253:McComas
249:Boucher
174:award.
156:At the
106:Print (
60:English
183:plague
37:Author
137:is a
65:Genre
326:2017
251:and
151:Dell
120:ISBN
110:and
90:1952
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384:^
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