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In 1974, Fritz Leiber revised "Fafhrd and Me," his article about the origin of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Looking back at the original after twelve years, he commented that it was "'mostly true, but with some stretchers,' as Huck Finn described The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
Maybe so. Still, most readers would choose it before an essay by an ex-academic like me. "Fafhrd and Me" is currently in print as part of the introductory material in /// Met in Lankhmar (White Wolf), but it's been published several times, and, in all conscience, I have to advise anyone who hasn't read it to do so before reading further. It's essential. And I make this statement, knowing very well that Fritz comes across in "Faihrd and Me" as so frank and urbane that you'll wonder why this essay is needed.
There are two answers, really.
The first is that, when "Fafhrd and Me" was revised, the series was only two-thirds complete.
The second is that nobody is as reticent in silence as Fritz could be when striking a confessional tone. While Fritz confessed to the stretchers, he never mentioned the omissions.
Not that I'm faulting Fritz, you understand. He had strong reasons for the omissions. Some were probably due to forgetting or lack of space. Other things were left out because they didn't fit the romantic story Fritz wanted to tell - and Fritz was so adept at orchestrating plot and atmosphere that he performs his magic in nonfiction as easily as in fiction. Still others were left out to protect people who were still alive, and how can I argue against a motive like that?
All the same, the omissions make the story incomplete. So, if I sometimes dwell on them, it's not because I'm muckraking, or just because literary gossip is fun. It's just that when I admire something as much as I admire Fritz's work, I'm obsessed with understanding it. I've spent the last four years editing Fritz's letters, articles, and unpublished stories, and, believe me, there's more to tell about the history of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser than you might think.
Besides, now that the principals are dead, touchy subjects can be raised without causing offense.
Take, for example, the characters'...