Bruce Jay Friedman was born in New York City on 26 April 1930 and was reared in the Bronx. He became interested in writing while attending DeWitt Clinton High School, where he wrote a column for The Clinton News called "AnyBuddy's Business," a pun on his high school nickname. At the University of Missouri in Columbia, Friedman majored in journalism, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1951. An officer in the United States Air Force from 1951-1953, he worked as a correspondent, feature writer, and photographer for the air force magazine, Air Training, and also wrote for the magazine some humorous fables with titles such as "Pvt. So-and-So and His Fairy Sergeant." Some of the sketches were considered "anti-establishment," and the magazine was finally told to stop printing them.

Friedman's first short story, "The Man They Threw Out of Jets," also dates from this period. His second attempt at writing short fiction...