SF: The Best of the Best

by Judith Merril (Editor), Walter M. Miller Jr. (Contributor), Theodore Sturgeon (Contributor)

Contents:
Introduction --
The hoofer / Walter M. Miller Jr. --
Bulkhead / Theodore Sturgeon --
The anything box / Zenna Henderson --
Prima belladona / J.G. Ballard --
Casey Agonistes / Richard M. McKenna --
A death in the house / Clifford D. Simak --
Space-time for springers / Fritz Leiber --
Pelt / Carol Emshwiller --
Stranger station / Damon Knight --
Satellite passage / Theodore L. Thomas --
No, no, no Rogov! / Cordwainer Smith --
Compounded interest / Mack Reynolds --
Junior / Robert Abernathy --
Sense from though divide / Mark Clifton --
Mariana / Fritz Leiber --
Plentitude / Will Worthington --
Day at the beach / Carol Emshwiller --
Let's be frank / Brian W. Aldiss --
The wonder hourse / George Byram --
Nobody bothers Gus / Algis Budrys --
The prize of peril / Robert Sheckley --
The handler / Damon Knight
The golem / Avram Davidson --
The sound sweep / J.G. Ballard --
Hickory, dickory, Kerouac / Richard Gehman --
Dreaming is a private thing / Isaac Asimov --
The public hating / Steve Allen --
You know Willie / Theodore R. Cogswell --
One ordinary day, with peanuts / Shirley Jackson.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

438 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Josephine Juliet Grossman

aka Cyril Judd (with C.M. Kornbluth)

Judith Josephine Grossman (Boston, Massachusetts, January 21, 1923 - Toronto, Ontario, September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist.

Although Judith Merril's first paid writing was in other genres, in her first few years of writing published science fiction she wrote her three novels (all but the first in collaboration with C.M. Kornbluth) and some stories. Her roughly four decades in that genre also included writing 26 published short stories, and editing a similar number of anthologies.

Reviews

[Craig]

Judith Merril edited an annual anthology for twelve years that were comprised of her selections of the best science fiction short stories of the previous year. In this book, she picked her favorites from the first five, so it's billed as Best of the Best. (Obviously, the book would just be a duplicate for anyone who had read the the series.) As always with such books, part of the fun is comparing her picks with your own and seeing how close they were. Mine weren't that terribly close, but there are some very good entries here nonetheless, by the likes of Theodore Sturgeon, Zenna Henderson, Cordwainer Smith, Richard McKenna, Carol Emshwiller, Damon Knight, Isaac Asimov, etc. My two favorites are Fritz Leiber's Space-Time For Springers and One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts by Shirley Jackson.

[Mbgile]

4+

[Mae]

Favorites: "Bulkhead", "The Anything Box", "Space-Time for Springers", "Mariana", "The Wonder Horse"

[Rena Sherwood]

I'm not thrilled with Merrill's choices, here. She's uncomfortable with the name "science fiction", instead preferring to use the term "science fantasy." A couple of these stories might be termed fantasy, with zero science involved. Merrill's mini bios of the authors are often more interesting than the stories. Some authors were chosen because they had recently died, such as Shirley Jackson, who died in 1965.

Stories were originally published from 1954 - 1960. So, really, this is the Best of the Best for just six years, and not up until 1967. Unfortunately, the best selections can be found in numerous other, better, anthologies.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Editor. Our Editor was pissed off that the publishers insisted on her writing an intro. Safely skipped.
* "The Hoofer" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. A worker in space comes home to his wife and newborn son on Earth, but it's not exactly a happy homecoming. There is a nicely written bit featuring the family dog.
* "Bulkhead" by Theodore Sturgeon. This was previously published under the title, "Who?" This is one of the very few stories written in second person by Sturgeon. It's not one of his better stories. It's an unnecessarily convoluted look at training a space cadet.
* "The Anything Box" by Zenna Henderson. A schoolgirl has an invisible toy ... or so it seems. This was back when it was normal for teachers to beat the shit out of kids, and no one cared. What the box is pales in comparison in this poorly written story.
* "Prima Belladonna" by J. G. Ballard. This was the first story Ballard ever sold, and it shows. No idea what happened, except a lot of plant-animal creatures died in a sort of pet shop.
* "Casey Agonistes" by Richard M. McKenna. This was the ill-fated McKenna's first published story. Although well-polished in McKenna's style, it's very hard to understand.
* "A Death in the House" by Clifford M. Simak. An old, lonely farmer finds a dying alien and its spaceship in the woods. It was particularly poignant when the farmer remembered his recently deceased old dog Towser, who he missed more than his wife or anyone else.
* "Space-time for Springers" by Fritz Lieber. I love cats. However, I often dread reading fiction featuring cats, since they aren't cat-like. Lieber makes his protagonist a "super-kitten" and quite annoying. Even more annoying was that ghe cats were fed horse meat, although I know that was considered normal in the 1950s. Still makes my stomach turn to acid.
* "Pelt" by Carol Emschwiller. We had a cat story -- now it's time for a dog story. Told in the point of view of a dog. Dog and master go off on a hunt ... for humanoid prey. Unlike the previous story, Emschwiller's dog is very dog-like.
* "Stranger Station" by Damon Knight. One of his most anthologized stories, about a human who has to sit six months in a satellite while an alien bleeds immortality fluid into collecting tanks. One of Knight's usual creep-fests. People first meet the aliens in 1987. WARNING: Memory of finding a drowned puppy.
* "Satellite Passage" by Theodore L. Thomas. This Cold War story shows why we don't have manned satellites.
* "No, No, Not Rogov!" By Cordwainer Smith/Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger. Rather difficult story of life as USSR scientists, written by an American.
* "Compounded Interest" by Mack Reynolds. Time travel story with a big build up ... to an incredibly lame finish.
* "Junior" by Robert Abernathy. Cute look at the generation gap through another species.
* "Sense from Thought Divide" by Mark Clifton. This is the short version ... which is still WAY too long. A government middle management type working on antigravity needs poltergeist activity. Yeah -- it's as bad as it sounds.
* "Mariana" by Fritz Lieber. Like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone.
* "Plentitude" by Will Worthington/Will Mohler. A 12 year old boy discovers why his family and the family next door, don't live in the city. Told by the boy's father.
* "Day at the Beach" by Carol Emschwiller. One of the best stories in this collection. A post nuclear war family tries to have a day trip to the beach, but things don't go as planned.
* "Let's Be Frank" by Brian W. Aldiss. An Englishman discovers that he shares consciousness with his son, then grandson, and on and on. Nice twist ending.
* "The Wonder Horse" by George Byram. The 1957 story of the first Thoroughbred mutant. Byram bred horses as a hobby, but his description of Red Eagle doesn't make much sense. Racing has changed rules since this was written. For example, you can no longer place a bet on a one-horse race. Byram was correct that the Thoroughbred was deteriorating.
* "Nobody Bothers Gus" by Algis Budrys. Unsatisfying look at a mutated human, or alien, or something like that, forced out of his home by human urban development.
* "The Prize of Peril" by Robert Sheckley. This reads like an early version of The Running Man, with a bit of The Hunger Games thrown in. WARNING: A squirrel is shot.
* "The Handler" by Damon Knight. Sad story of the man behind (or inside) the successful superstar. WARNING: Goldfish killed.
* "The Golem" by Avram Davidson. One of Davidson's best stories, about a Golem showing up at the home of an old Jewish couple. This has, rightly, appeared in dozens of other anthologies.
* "The Sound Sweep" by J. G. Ballard. The Internet Archive's copy was damaged, so I had to skip this novella.
* "Hickory, Hickory, Kerouac" by Richard Gehman/Martin Scott. This is more an urban fantasy than sci-fi. It's a short parody of On the Road, where Kerouac rewrites the nursery rhyme, "Hickory, Dickory, Dock."
* "Dreaming is a Private Thing" by Isaac Asimov. Dreamers create something far more intense than movies, sort of like virtual reality. A boss running a "dreamie" studio has a really dramatic day.
* "The Public Hating" by Steve Allen. Yes, that Steve Allen. Although best known as a comedian and talk show host, he was also a good short story writer. Set in 1978 (then the future), there's a public execution of a professor, killed by hate.
* "You Know Willie" by Theodore R. Cogswell. This is a horror story, not sci-fi. It's also incredibly predictable. White guy kills black man, jury finds him innocent -- but he's cursed by an old black woman just before she drops dead.
* "One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson. Yes, that Shirley Jackson. This is a horror/fantasy story without any sci-fi. It's in WAY too many science fiction anthologies, and I'm utterly sick of it.

[Shoshana]

Spacetime for Springers!

[Tim]

I picked this up from a canal side free book exchange, and I will pass it on in a similar fashion. These short stories were collected in 1967, and it shows. By far the best story in the collection was "The Sound Sweep", by J. G. Ballard, about someone who sweeps up old sounds and falls in love with a faded opera singer. Beautiful.
This story is cited as the inspiration for Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles.

[Dustin Reade]

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.