"To See the Invisible Man"
by Robert Silverberg
Form: Short story
Year: 1963
ID: 1188
Publication history:
- 1963: Worlds of Tomorrow April 1963, Magazine
- 1966: Needle in a Timestack [1st Version], Ballantine Mass market paperback, 190 pp.
- 1967: Needle in a Timestack [1st Version], Sphere Mass market paperback, 190 pp.
- 1970: Author's Choice 2, Berkley Mass market paperback
- 1970: Needle in a Timestack [1st Version], Ballantine Mass market paperback, 1970 pp.
- 1973: Earth's Other Shadow, Signet Mass market paperback, 207 pp.
- 1974: Another Tomorrow, Pflaum Hard cover book
- 1975: Earth's Other Shadow, Signet Mass market paperback
- 1976: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 671-80282-8, 258 pp.
- 1976: Earth in Transit, Laurel Leaf Mass market paperback
- 1977: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 0-671-83497-5, 258 pp.
- 1977: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Sidgwick & Jackson Hard cover book
- 1977: Earth's Other Shadow, Millington Hard cover book
- 1978: Dark Sins, Dark Dreams, Doubleday Hard cover book
- 1978: Science Fiction Special #30, Sidgwick & Jackson Mass market paperback
- 1978: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Orbit Mass market paperback, 258 pp.
- 1978: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Volume 1, Gregg Hard cover book, 288 pp.
- 1978: Earth's Other Shadow, Panther Mass market paperback, 222 pp.
- 1979: Robert Silverberg Reads Passengers & To See the Invisible Man, Pelican Vinyl LP
- 1979: Le livre d'or de la science-fiction: Robert Silverberg, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 2-266-00597-9, 448 pp., in French as Voir l'homme invisible
- 1986: The Best of Robert Silverberg, Baen Mass market paperback, ISBN 0-671-65586-8, 277 pp.
- 1988: Voir l'invisible, Pocket Mass market paperback, ISBN 2-266-02713-1, 448 pp., in French as Voir l'homme invisible
- 1991: New Stories from the Twilight Zone, Avon Mass market paperback
- 1997: Ringing the Changes (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 5), HarperCollins UK Trade paperback, ISBN 0-586-21373-2, 359 pp.
- 2002: Le Chemin de la nuit: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 1, 1953-1970, Flammarion Trade paperback, ISBN 2080682350, 727 pp., in French as Voir l'homme invisible
- 2004: Phases of the Moon, iBooks Trade paperback, ISBN 0743498011, 623 pp.
Other resources:
[None on record]
Comments:
As punishment for his antisocial behavior, a man is sentenced to a year of invisibilty. People can still see him, but they are required by law to have nothing to do with him—no conversation, no contact, nothing. There is a fun side to being invisible—he goes to movies for free, walks into women's locker rooms, and so on, but doctors are not exempt from the law, so when he gets sick, no one will treat him. An interesting concept, this modern version of shunning, though it's hard to see how doctors could reconcile it with their Hippocratic Oath.
The vinyl LP listed above contains a recording of Silverberg reading this story along with .
This story was adapted as a Twilight Zone episode in 1985 (episode 1.40), which I believe was first broadcast in January of 1986. It was directed by Noel Black, adapted for the screen by Steven Barnes, and starred Cotter Smith. Thanks, Jenelle, for this lead. More info can be found on this fan site or at this site.