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Karp, David

(1922-1999) US author whose sf novel One (1953; vt Escape to Nowhere 1955) is a notable Mainstream use of sf modes as a way of expressing Dystopian views about the future. Though distinctly less convincing than such predecessors as Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon (1940) or George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), it does present a salutarily grim and sharply described vision of a totalitarian future America, and of the brutal mind-control that must be imposed if such a state is to survive (see Cultural Engineering). Part of the novel's interest lies in its sometimes sympathetic insight into the mind of inquisitor as well as victim. The Day of the Monkey (1955) is a fantasy. [JC]

see also: Politics.

David Karp

born New York: 5 May 1922

died Pittsfield, Massachusetts: 11 September 1999

works

• One (New York: The Vanguard Press, 1953) [hb/uncredited]
  • Escape to Nowhere (New York: Lion Books, 1955) [vt of the above: pb/]
• The Day of the Monkey (London: Victor Gollancz, 1955) [hb/nonpictorial]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 02:54 am on 12 April 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/karp_david>