Peter S Beagle

Peter S Beagle (born Peter Soyer Beagle in 1939) is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. He is also a talented guitarist and folk singer. He wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place, when he was only 19 years old. Today he is best known as the author of The Last Unicorn, which routinely polls as one of the top ten fantasy novels of all time, and at least two of his other books (A Fine and Private Place and I See By My Outfit) are considered modern classics.

He wrote the teleplay for episode 71 of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, titled "Sarek." Peter S Beagle also wrote the screenplay for the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-animated version of The Lord of the Rings, the film which first inspired a teenaged Peter Jackson to read J.R.R. Tolkien's original trilogy.

His work as a screenwriter interrupted his early career direction as a novelist, magazine nonfiction author, and short-story writer. But in the mid-'90s Peter S Beagle returned to prose fiction of all lengths, and has produced new works at a steady pace since.

In addition to his own body of work, he is sole heir to the literary estates of science fiction author Edgar Pangborn, Edgar's sister and sometime collaborator Mary, and their mother Georgia Wood Pangborn. Since 2003 he has been working to bring the best of these three authors' fiction back into print.

In 2005 Peter S Beagle  finally published a coda to The Last Unicorn, a novelette entitled "Two Hearts," and began work on a full-novel sequel. In 2006, "Two Hearts" won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Novelette and was nominated as a short fiction finalist for the World Fantasy Award.

Peter S. Beagle now lives in Oakland, California.

Selected Bibliography

Books

• A Fine and Private Place, 1960 (novel)
• I See By My Outfit: Cross-Country by Scooter, an Adventure, 1965 (nonfiction)
• The Last Unicorn, 1968 (novel)
• The California Feeling, 1969 (with photographer Michael Bry, nonfiction)
• Lila the Werewolf, 1974 (chapbook edition of previously-published novelette)
• American Denim, 1975 (nonfiction art book)
• The Lady and Her Tiger, 1976 (with Pat Derby, nonfiction)
• The Fantasy Worlds of Peter S. Beagle, 1978 (omnibus collection including A Fine and Private Place, The Last Unicorn, "Come Lady Death," and "Lila the Werewolf")
• The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1982 (nonfiction art book)
• The Folk of the Air, 1986 (novel, currently being rewritten and expanded for new release)
• The Innkeeper's Song, 1993 (novel)
• In the Presence of the Elephants, 1995 (nonfiction photo book)
• Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, 1995 (co-editor, original story anthology)
• Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn 2, 1995 (co-editor, original story anthology)
• The Unicorn Sonata, 1996 (young adult novel, currently being rewritten and expanded into a 4-book series)
• Giant Bones, 1997 (collection of original stories set in the world of The Innkeeper's Song)
• The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances, 1997 (collection of fiction and nonfiction essays)
• The Magician of Karakosk and Other Stories, 1999 (foreign edition title for Giant Bones collection)
• Tamsin, 1999 (novel)
• A Dance for Emilia, 2000 (chapbook edition of novella)
• The Line Between, 2006 (story collection)

Audiobooks

• The Last Unicorn, 1990 (severely abridged, cassette only, read by Peter)
• A Fine and Private Place, 2002 (unabridged CD & cassette, read by Peter)
• Giant Bones, 2002 (unabridged CD & cassette, read by Peter)
• Tamsin, 2002 (unabridged CD & cassette, read by Peter)
• The Last Unicorn, 2005 (unabridged CD & download, read by Peter, with original music by Jeff Slingluff)

Produced screenplays

• The Dove, 1974
• The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened, 1977
• The Lord Of The Rings, 1978
• The Last Unicorn, 1982
• "Sarek" (for Star Trek: The Next Generation), 1990
• A Whale of a Tale, 1992
• Camelot, 1996
• The Story of Moses, 1996

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