The Fourth Galaxy Reader

Galaxy Reader #4

by H.L. Gold (Editor)

CONTENTS In This Corner (1959) essay by H. L. Gold; I Am a Nucleus (1957) by Stephen Barr; Name Your Symptom (1956) by Jim Harmon; Horrer Howce (1956) by Margaret St. Clair; Man of Distinction (1956) by Michael Shaara; The Bomb in the Bathtub (1957) by Thomas N. Scortia; You Were Right, Joe (1957) by J. T. McIntosh; What's He Doing in There? (1957) by Fritz Leiber; The Gentlest Unpeople (1958) by Frederik Pohl; The Hated (1958) by Frederik Pohl; Kill Me with Kindness (1958) by Richard Wilson; Or All the Seas With Oysters (1958) by Avram Davidson; The Gun Without a Bang (1958) by Robert Sheckley; Man in a Quandary (1958) by L. J. Stecher, Jr.; Blank Form (1958) by Arthur Sellings; The Minimum Man (1958) by Robert Sheckley.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

239 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1959

About the author

Horace Leonard Gold was a science fiction writer and editor most noted for bringing an innovative and fresh approach to science fiction while he was the editor of Galaxy Science Fiction, and also wrote briefly for DC Comics. Born in Canada, Gold moved to the United States at the age of two. He also published under the pseudonyms Clyde Crane Campbell, Dudley Dell, Christopher Grimm, and Leigh Keith.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth in the series of the best stories from Galaxy magazine as selected by the magazine's editor, H.L. Gold. The stories originally appeared in issues of the magazine from 1956 through 1958. This one has more humorous stories than were usual for the time, with more of a fantasy or Twilight Zone element. Good stories from Frederik Pohl, J.T. McIntosh, Robert Sheckley (I believe Finn O'Donnevan was a pseudonym of his, too), Thomas Scortia (his story as well as Fritz Leiber's were set in a bathroom, which is kind of weird), and Margaret St. Clair. Or All the Sea with Oysters by Avram Davidson is something of a classic. The Doubleday/book club editions of the early books in the series all had very good covers by the almost-forgotten Arthur Renshaw that featured Chesley Bonestell-like vistas of people working in outer space or on alien planets.

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galaxy Magazine had a decent run with a lot of good stories, so it’s not surprising that even this fourth collection of fifteen science fiction reprints from the 1950s has a strong selection. (I recognized almost all of these!) There’s an introduction which runs down inferior Communist Russian SF (hobbled by government interference.)

“I Am a Nucleus” by Stephen Barr opens the book with the tale of an advertising man who’s having a bad day already when suddenly he becomes the center of an ever-growing series of unlikely coincidences. It’s even beginning to affect local weather patterns! If the protagonist and his academic friend can’t figure this out quickly, probability may break forever. Some lovely descriptions of the bizarre things going on.

“Name Your Symptom” by Jim Harmon is set in a world where psychopharmacology never took off. Instead, neuroses are treated with physical gadgets. For example, a magnetic grapple safety belt for people with a fear of falling. A psychiatrist goes undercover as one of the Cured to investigate a new movement he’s heard rumors of, one that will change the definition of sanity.

“Horrer Howce” by Margaret St. Clair has a designer of haunted house scenes showing around a prospective buyer. Freeman’s career has crashed since HUAC got him blacklisted, so he’s desperate to make a sale. Problem is, some of these scenes are a little too realistic…a nice twist on the “horror attraction as revenge” theme.

“Man of Distinction” by Michael Shaara concerns Thatcher Blitt, who was the first to realize that the newly invented time scanner could be used to trace ancestry. He built a successful business around finding people’s famous ancestors. But then it occurred to him to look into his own forefathers…. I’ve seen this plot and the exact twist ending repeatedly, so it’s worn thin.

“The Bomb in the Bathtub” by Thomas N. Scortia stars Caedman Wicks, private investigator specializing in odd complaints. In this case, a talking bomb in a man’s bathtub. It says it’s there to destroy this universe, which is the best of all possible worlds, and “sings” in a way that makes all songs sound alike–and terrible. Absurdist comedy with a quirky detective, so it will very much depend on your sense of humor.

“You Were Right, Joe” by J.T. McIntosh is told in the first person by a man sent forward to the future reporting back to the person who did this to him. Turns out there’s a few side effects to this kind of time travel, and the danger is about to hit.

“What’s He Doing In There?” by Fritz Leiber concerns the first ambassador from Mars visiting a relatively normal American family. The ambassador indicates that he needs to use the facilities, but then doesn’t come out again. It slowly dawns on the family that they know nothing about Martian biology. Also absurdist humor, but does it better.

“The Gentlest Unpeople” by Frederik Pohl is set on Venus, where the emissary from Earth has been exploiting his position of power. The Venusians are civilized people who would never resort to violence or harsh words, but now the Earthling has interrupted their most sacred sporting event. This will not do. Most interesting for the justification that caused Earth to send an unsuitable emissary.

“The Hated” by Paul Flehr examines the aftereffects of manned missions to Mars. In specific, having a small group of men crammed into the confines of a tiny spaceship together for years at a time. The space agency treated them in such a way as to prevent their aggression from spiking during the mission. Unfortunately, that only works once, so the returned astronauts must live in entirely different sections of the country lest they murder each other. There’s a double twist at the end.

“Kill Me with Kindness” by Richard Wilson stars Oliver, a man who has been captured by (presumably) aliens for unknown purposes. His captivity is very comfortable, with any food or drink he desires, recorded entertainment (but only from before the date he was abducted) at request, and a seemingly limitless clothing budget. Catch is, it’s very lonely in Human Run Two. Then one day, he’s allowed to meet the inhabitant of Human Run One. What I didn’t remember from reading this as a child is how sexist in a genteel way Oliver is. He learned nothing from his first divorce.

“Or All the Seas with Oysters” by Avram Davidson. Ferd (something of an intellectual) and Oscar (a ladies’ man) run a bicycle shop together. The partnership is falling apart due to their clashing personalities and what Ferd sees as Oscar’s irresponsibility. A number of seeming coincidences gives Ferd a hypothesis about why sometimes you have no safety pins and sometimes there are plenty, and how come you always seem to have more wire hangers than you remember buying. Three months later, Oscar is running the shop alone. One of the best stories in this collection.

“The Gun Without a Bang” by Finn O’Donnevan examines the stock science fiction cliche of the disintegration ray through a space explorer stranded on a hostile planet with an experimental disintegrator as his only weapon. Very dry humor.

“Man in a Quandary” by L.J. Stetcher, Jr. is in the form of a letter to an advice columnist. The letter writer describes his gradual cyborgization over the course of years, building up to his actual question. That question is not necessarily the one you would have thought. Most notable for taking place in a world where miniaturization of gadgets is not a priority.

“Blank Form” by Arthur Sellings has a psychiatrist run into (almost literally) an amnesiac shapeshifter. They establish that the shapeshifter is probably an alien, and that by returning to its natural shape it should be able to regain its memories. The rest of the story leads up to finding out what that shape is, with a fairly obvious twist.

“The Minimum Man” by Robert Sheckley finishes the book strong with an interesting twist on planetary exploration. The first wave of space explorers were square-jawed, omnicompetent heroes who laughed at danger and overcame any obstacles in their way. But for actually colonizing other planets and allowing ordinary people to live there, you need a different kind of explorer to test the waters. The “minimum man” who can barely survive on civilized but overcrowded Earth. If that person can survive on the new planet, anyone can. This is the story of Anton Percerveral, recruited just as he was about to commit suicide in despair.

This is a classic “underdog makes good” story with a heartwarming ending. Like many SF stories from this period with an overcrowded Earth, birth control is not even a concept brought up, the only solution is more planets to colonize.

Overall, a good selection of stories, with “Horrer Howse”, “Or All the Sea with Oysters” and “The Minimum Man” as standouts. “Man of Distinction” only fails due to the plot being overused and “The Bomb in the Bathtub” feels like it’s trying too hard to be absurd, but they’re not actually bad stories.

Recommended to any fan of 1950s science fiction.

[Oliver Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘What is he doing in there?’ is my favourite short story in here by far. It’s just simply fun to read

[Jim Mcclanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little vintage paperback represented an opportunity to get reacquainted with some classic stories from the late 1950s as first published in Galaxy Magazine. Some notables: "Horrer Howce" by Margaret St. Clair, "The Bomb in the Bathtub" by Thomas N. Scortia, "What's He Doing in There?" by Fritz Leiber and "The Gun Without a Bang" by Finn O'Donnevan. But the best of the lot is "The Gentlest Unpeople" by Frederik Pohl; a tale of a foolproof judicial system as administered by the kind and gentle inhabitants of the planet Venus. Some real nostalgia here, as well as some superior writing.

[Tbfrank · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice sampling from the late 1950's including stories by a half-dozen golden-age authors. Four stood out: I Am a Nucleus (Stephen Barr), The Bomb in the Bathtub (Thomas N. Scortia), Or All the Seas with Oysters (Avram Davidson), and The Minimum Man (Robert Sheckley).

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

7 Another collection of 50's SF-stories, this time taken from the journal Galaxy. As other reviews have noted, while the cover states these stories 'probe beyond the range of the swiftest traveling rocket', most of them are bound to earth and contain more fantasy elements than pure SF. A lot of the stories have humorous or ironical conclusions and I had to grin while reading most of them. It just isn't meaty serieus idea-rich sci fi. No Asimov, Clarke or Heinlein-stories here, I guess. Still, if you go in expecting fun stories, well written, with improbable scenario's and humorous resolutions, this is a great little collection. With fifteen stories packed in 230 pages no tale overstays its welcome. Most enjoyable to me were 'You were right, Joe' by J.T. McIntosh, which follows a time traveler to the future reporting strange happenings. Also great as 'The hated' by Paul Flehr, illustrating what space travel will do to a man cooped up with five others in a very small space. I thought Avram Davidsons 'Or all the Seas with Oysters' was also very interesting, running with the idea of mimicry. I am pretty certain that Terry Pratchett knew this story, as it reminded me of one of the Discworld novels. 'Blank Form' was one of those stories turning around a smart ending, but I had to smile about the solution. The final story 'The minimum man' is also a great SF-story, where to test the feasability of a planet for human habitation not a great succesful explorer is sent, but an accident prone common man. On the planet he gains in self confidence, but he finds out that mission control has put controls in place to assure the goals of their experiment will still be reached. No stories here that will stay with me for a long time because of their ideas, but it was enjoyable enough to read.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of late 50s short stories. It does have a few famous writers, including Frederick Pohl, JT McIntosh, Fritz Leiber, Avram Davidson and what has to be one of the first things written by Michael Shaara.

The title is a little misleading, in that most of the stories are near-future types that take place on Earth.. more like Twilight Zone fodder that anything Galactic. Those there were are the best of the lot... Frederick Pohl's 'the Gentlest Unpeople' about a brutish crook that tries to take advantage of the kindest of Venusians, and 'The Minimum Man' by Robery Sheckley, which shows a very unique take on colonizing a new planet.

Shaara's story, very short, was a fun little time machine story. Leiber's, aptly titled, 'What's he doing in There' is a really funny first contact story. Most of the rest are fairly middling fare that just have small bits of weirdness in them, but there was really only 1 real clunker out of the 15 in the collection, which is a pretty good ratio.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story is quite dull, with a man who witnesses a glass like object being destroyed in a construction site then being hit in the head by a tiny fragment and subsequently the world around him and everything he comes in contact with becomes affected in some way. I thought it dragged on a bit too long but enjoyed the overall plot.
A story about an alien travelling from Mars who arrives at the door of a suburban house asking to use the bathroom. Quite a fun little one..

[David Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent or better SF stories from the 1950s, with "Or All the Seas With Oysters" by Avram Davidson being the standout. Solid contributions include two stories each by Robert Sheckley and Frederick Pohl (one each under pseudonyms) and one by Fritz Leiber. Among the lesser-remembered writers, Stephen Barr, J.T. McIntosh and Margaret St. Clair come up with winners.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read science fiction voraciously through elementary and secondary schools, only tapering off as political and academic concerns became increasingly consuming in college and, especially, graduate and professional schools. Now I read it but rarely and usually only upon the recommendation of close friends. Indeed, a couple of years ago I gave away and/or traded in almost all the science fiction titles I'd been keeping with other literature.

How and when did this start? Of all the available genres, why science fiction?

The earliest science fiction story I can remember reading myself was A Wrinkle in Time. That must have been in fourth grade. At about the same time I was also deeply involved in reading everything I could get my hands on about aerospace. It was the era of Sputnik, of Echo, of Yuri Gagarin--such interests were encouraged in school. That, the liking of Madeline L' Engle's book, a morbid fascination with the prospect of nuclear war and the ready availability of cheap sf paperbacks on book carousels in stores all over the place were probably the factors. Popular media were likely other sources of this interest. I liked super hero comics which also had sf themes and occasionally I had seen and enjoyed The Twilight Zone on television. The special, precipitating factor, however, was probably the prominence of the space race. If I'd been a little younger, perhaps I would have gotten into spy novels--a popular culture fad by the mid sixties--and from there into mysteries.

Other than providing entertainment that passed the time, I've little conviction that reading hundreds--probably thousands--of science fiction books contributed much to my development beyond what an equivalent number of books from another genre would have done. I've read lots of sf books and many of them have had introductions discussing the importance of the genre. These introductions have rarely impressed me much. Most have seemed, and continue to seem, self-serving and overstated. An argument may be made for a subgenre of sf having some positive impact, however, i.e. those near-future disaster novels which heightened my socio-political awareness, books like No Blade of Grass, Stand on Zanzibar, Brave New World, 1984, on the Beach, Last Gasp, Cat's Cradle, The Shape of Things to Come and the like. The rest, however, with a few exceptions (some science fiction is actually very well written), were a waste of time compared to what I could have been reading.

This is a typical collection, one of the earlier ones I owned and read.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in the 1970s and only recently thought of it again, when I found out that a story I was trying to find ("Man of Distinction" by Michael Shaara was in it. When I got a copy and reread the book, I was delighted to find that I remembered most of the stories at least vaguely (see here for contents http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?4...) and greatly enjoyed rereading stories like "Name Your Symptom," "The Minimum Man," "I am a Nucleus," and "You Were Right, Joe".

[Richp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great example of science fiction of that time. None of the stories are stinkers, the best are very good. Many are best described as science fantasy, in that the "science" element is really a fantasy one, but that is OK.

[Dushan Milinovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent compilation of good short stories with imaginative premises. If you like early atomic age science fiction, don't miss this book.

[Patrick]

4/14/11:
"What's He Doing in There?" (1957) by Fritz Leiber
"The Gun without a Bang" (1958) by Finn O'Donnevan