No blade of grass
The Death of Grass From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "No Blade of Grass" redirects here. For the film adaptation, see No Blade of Grass (film). The Death Of Grass Cover of a U.S paperback edition. Author(s) John Christopher Country United Kingdom Language English Genre(s) Science fiction novel Publisher Michael Joseph Publication date 1956 (UK) Media type Print (Hardcover) Pages 231 pp ISBN 0140013008 OCLC Number 16191150 The Death of Grass (aka No Blade of Grass) is a 1956 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author John Christopher, the first in a series of post-apocalyptic novels written by him. It deals with the concept of a virus that kills off all forms of grass. The novel was written "in a matter of weeks" and liberated Christopher (a pen name for Samuel Youd) from his day job. It was retitled No Blade of Grass for the US edition as supposedly the US publisher thought the original title "sounded like something out of a gardening catalogue". The film rights were sold to MGM.[1] [edit]Plot summary A new virus strain has infected rice crops in East Asia causing massive famine; soon a mutation appears which infects the staple crops of West Asia and Europe such as wheat and barley, all of them types of grasses (thus the novel's title), threatening a famine engulfing the whole of the Old World, while Australasia and the Americas attempt to impose rigorous quarantine to keep the virus out.
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- Isn't that basically what many authors do? Many authors are afraid of diluting their brand so when they write books in a different genre or style they create a new pen name to keep the works distinct from their main name. For example Stephen King used to write additional books under the name of Richard Bachman, before that identity was linked to him, and the late Samuel Youd used to write under a half-dozen names, most famously as John Christopher (of Tripods and No Blade of Grass fame).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bachman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Christopher
- I can't say I support your desire to eradicate wheat. I love bread, and without bread probably half the human population would starve. Most of the rest would likely die in the resulting upheaval.
There was a scifi story about such a scenario, I think it was entitled "No Blade of Grass" by John Christopher.
- A film was made of the book in 1970: No Blade of Grass.
- My copy of it is entitled "No Blade of Grass".
- In the post-apocalyptic science fiction novel The Death of Grass (and the movie No Blade of Grass), a virus threatens all the world's grass crops. Some governments begin plotting to nuke (their own!) cities to reduce food demand.
There is a worrying analogy to global warming, where governments might consider nuclear war to reduce carbon emissions (from other countries). Though at the point global warming is really bad, it would probably be too late to make much difference.
