James Tiptree, Jr. cover art

James Tiptree, Jr.

The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

James Tiptree, Jr.

By: Julie Phillips
Narrated by: Angele Masters
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £25.99

Buy Now for £25.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

James Tiptree, Jr. burst onto the science fiction scene in the 1970s with a series of hard-edged, provocative short stories. Hailed as a brilliant masculine writer with a deep sympathy for his female characters, he penned such classics as Houston, Houston, Do You Read? and The Women Men Don't See. For years he corresponded with Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Ursula Le Guin. No one knew his true identity. Then the cover was blown on his alter ego: A 61-year-old woman named Alice Sheldon. As a child, she explored Africa with her mother. Later, made into a debutante, she eloped with one of the guests at the party. She was an artist, a chicken farmer, a World War II intelligence officer, a CIA agent, an experimental psychologist. Devoted to her second husband, she struggled with her feelings for women. In 1987, her suicide shocked friends and fans. The James Tiptree, Jr. Award was created to honor science fiction or fantasy that explores our understanding of gender. This fascinating biography by Julie Phillips, 10 years in the making, is based on extensive research, exclusive interviews, and full access to Alice Sheldon's papers.

©2006 Julie Phillips; Excerpts from the Letters of Harlan Ellison reprinted by permission of, and arrangement with, the Author, and The Kilimanjaro Corporation. Copyright 2006 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Women Celebrity Science Fiction Fiction Espionage Star Trek

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Baby on the Fire Escape cover art
Sylvia Plath cover art
The Peanuts Papers cover art
The Unknown Henry Miller cover art
The Gifts of Reading cover art
Creating Anna Karenina cover art
The Power of Adrienne Rich cover art
Becoming Beauvoir cover art
Mad at the World cover art
Eat Your Mind cover art
The Life of William Faulkner cover art
Hide-and-Seek with Angels cover art
My Brilliant Friends cover art
Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin cover art
The Spooky Art cover art
Lives of the Wives cover art
All stars
Most relevant
A really excellent biography whether you know Sheldon's work or not. Sad and often funny.

Convincing, insightful and moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.