"The absurdist stuff wasn't terribly popular at the time I was doing it"

This quote by Robert Sheckley is referring to the genre of absurdist literature, which he was composing at the time. Absurdist literature is a category of writing that concentrates on the absurdity of life and the human condition. It typically uses dark humor and satire to make its point. Sheckley's quote suggests that, at the time he was writing, this type of literature was not particularly popular. This could be due to the fact that it was seen as too weird or too dark for the mainstream audience. It might also be due to the fact that the themes of absurdity and the human condition were not extensively understood or accepted at the time. Whatever the factor, it appears that Sheckley's work was not as popular as he had hoped.