My Best Science Fiction Story

by Leo Margulies (Editor), Oscar J. Friend (Editor), Isaac Asimov

Two editors asked twenty-five top writers a "loaded" question: "What do you think is your best science fiction story?" The result? This book, in which you'll find their selections - stories of robots, space ships, startling scientific ideas and even more startling people both in and out of this world!

Contents:

vii • Introduction (My Best Science Fiction Story) • essay by Oscar J. Friend and Leo Margulies
3 • Why I Selected- Robot AL 76 Goes Astray • [Asimov's Essays: Own Work] • essay by Isaac Asimov
4 • Robot AL 76 Goes Astray • (1942) • short story by Isaac Asimov (variant of Robot AL-76 Goes Astray)
20 • Why I Selected- Grief of Bagdad • essay by Arthur K. Barnes
22 • Grief of Bagdad • [Pete Manx] • (1943) • short story by Arthur K. Barnes
44 • Why I Selected- The Teacher from Mars • essay by Otto Binder [as by Eando Binder]
46 • The Teacher from Mars • (1941) • short story by Otto Binder [as by Eando Binder]
64 • Why I Selected- Almost Human • essay by Robert Bloch
66 • Almost Human • (1943) • short story by Robert Bloch
89 • Why I Selected- Zero Hour • essay by Ray Bradbury
91 • Zero Hour • (1947) • short story by Ray Bradbury
103 • Why I Selected- Nothing Sirius • essay by Fredric Brown
104 • Nothing Sirius • (1944) • short story by Fredric Brown
124 • Why I Selected- Blindness • essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
126 • Blindness • (1935) • short story by John W. Campbell, Jr.
145 • Why I Selected- Visiting Yokel • essay by Cleve Cartmill
146 • Visiting Yokel • (1943) • short story by Cleve Cartmill
165 • Why I Selected- The Hibited Man • essay by L. Sprague de Camp
167 • The Hibited Man • (1949) • short story by L. Sprague de Camp
193 • Why I Selected- The Thing in the Pond • essay by Paul Ernst
194 • The Thing in the Pond • (1934) • short story by Paul Ernst
207 • Why I Selected- Wanderer of Time • essay by John Russell Fearn
209 • Wanderer of Time • (1944) • short story by John Russell Fearn
228 • Why I Selected- The Inn Outside the World • essay by Edmond Hamilton
229 • The Inn Outside the World • (1945) • short story by Edmond Hamilton
247 • Why I Selected- The Professor was a Thief • essay by L. Ron Hubbard
249 • The Professor Was a Thief • (1940) • novelette by L. Ron Hubbard
285 • Why I Selected- Don't Look Now • essay by Henry Kuttner
286 • Don't Look Now • (1948) • short story by Henry Kuttner
302 • Why I Selected- The Green Hills of Earth • essay by Robert A. Heinlein
303 • The Green Hills of Earth • [Future History] • (1947) • short story by Robert A. Heinlein
317 • Why I Selected- The Lost Race • essay by Murray Leinster
319 • The Lost Race • (1949) • short story by Murray Leinster
344 • Why I Selected- The House of Rising Winds • essay by Frank Belknap Long
345 • The House of Rising Winds • (1948) • short story by Frank Belknap Long
366 • Why I Selected- The Carriers • essay by Sam Merwin, Jr.
367 • The Carriers • (1949) • short story by Sam Merwin, Jr.
384 • Why I Selected- Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitarium • essay by Fletcher Pratt
385 • Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitarium • (1934) • short story by Fletcher Pratt
402 • Why I Selected- The Uncharted Isle • essay by Clark Ashton Smith
403 • The Uncharted Isle • (1930) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
416 • Why I Selected- Thunder and Roses • essay by Theodore Sturgeon
417 • Thunder and Roses • (1947) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
444 • Why I Selected- The Ultimate Catalyst • essay by John Taine
445 • The Ultimate Catalyst • (1939) • novelette by John Taine
473 • Why I Selected- Project Spaceship • essay by A. E. van Vogt
474 • Project Spaceship • (1949) • novelette by A. E. van Vogt
503 • Why I Selected- Space Station No. 1 • essay by Manly Wade Wellman
504 • Space Station No. 1 • (1936) • short story by Manly Wade Wellman
523 • Why I Selected- Star Bright • essay by Jack Williamson
525 • Star Bright • (1939) • novelette by Jack Williamson

Genres: Science Fiction

556 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1949

About the author

Leo Margulies was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, but was raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. After briefly attending Columbia University, Margulies began working for Munsey's Magazine, selling subsidiary rights to its stories. He later spent five years as head of East Coast research for Fox Films, a predecessor company of 20th Century Fox, and afterward became editorial chief of publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. At one time in the 1930s, he reputedly edited 46 magazines, including the pulp magazines Startling Stories and Thrilling Wonder Stories.

During World War II, Margulies served as a war correspondent. He was on board the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered.

After the war, Margulies helped launch Pines' Popular Library line of paperback books. He was co-editor of the anthology My Best Science Fiction Story in 1949, and went on to compile several several science fiction and fantasy paperback anthologies. He was editor of Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine at the time of his death.

In December 1975 he was attending a meeting in London of the Mystery Writers of America when he suffered a stroke. He died December 26 in Los Angeles, California.

Margulies was married to the former Cylvia Kleinman at the time of his death.

[From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marg...]

Reviews

[Craig]

This was an anthology that Margulies and Friend produced in 1949 with an intriguing concept, in that sf writers picked the favorite of their own stories and wrote a short introduction to explain why they chose it. (Harry Harrison edited a whole series of books in the 1970's called SF Author's Choice with the same premise.) Of course the selections were limited to stories that were available, that were of acceptable content and subject matter and length, etc., but it was still a very nice idea. My Pocket Books paperback edition from 1954 is an abridgment and only includes twelve of the stories from the original Merlin hardback. It's intriguing that the only story from Astounding magazine is the one by John W. Campbell. The other authors include Isaac Asimov, Eando Binder, Robert Bloch, Edmond Hamilton (one of Weird Tales stories!), Henry Kuttner, Murray Leinster, Fletcher Pratt, John Taine, A.E. van Vogt, Manly Wade Wellman, and Jack Williamson. I can think of stories from many of these writers that I would have selected rather than the ones here, but the choice was supposed to be theirs, and that's part of the fun.

[Cheryl]

David gave me the (abridged 12 story) paperback but we are both still looking for the hardcover, which may be at mobius (midwest).
---
I have now read it and say:

This is neat, but very old, and the editor is clearly being disingenuous to say "best." These are stories the authors picked that 1. were short and 2. the rights to which were available, and 3. the authors chose as their 'favorite' for often whimsical reasons. So, I can't give it four stars, as that would imply a sort of recommendation... otoh, I did enjoy it (and do want to find the longer edition, too).

Hey, shout out to the inclusion of Eando Binder though. (And if you know what I mean, you're more likely to be interested in this than if you don't.)

[Dale Lehman]

You won't likely find a copy of this outside of a used book store. Originally published in 1949, this unique anthology is comprised of stories a select group of science fiction authors selected as their own best stories at that time. Half of these luminaries you'll know, including Isaac Asimov, Robert Bloch, John W. Campbell, Jr., A. E. van Vogt, Manly Wade Wellman, and Jack Williamson. The other half are, today, less well-known (although possibly you're more familiar with them than I). But together the present an intriguing view of science fiction in the first half of the 20th century.

The stories are fun, but equally fun are the introductions by the authors explaining why they selected these tales as their best. Some are serious, others lighthearted. John Taine gets my vote for the best, unabashedly announcing that "The Ultimate Catalyst" is his best science fiction short story because it's the only science fiction short story he had written!

In any event, if you can find a copy of this book, you'll likely enjoy it. I sure did!

[Scout Who]

Abridged. Maybe someday I can find the unabridged hardcover.

[Jim Davis]

Interesting collection although I didn't enjoy it very much. I love classic SF and there were many of my favorite authors included here such as Asimov, Fredric Brown, Kuttner, Sturgeon. I guess I am very surprised at what the author considers their best SF story before 1949 compared to what story from that period I enjoyed the most. They are usually very different. There were a few that we agreed on such as "Zero Hour" by Ray Bradbury. "Thunder and Roses" may have been my favorite story in the anthology but not my favorite Sturgeon story from that period. There were also many authors presented who even in the much smaller universe of pre 1949 authors were not not that good or that popular. Unless you have a strong desire to know what some Sf writers considered their favorite pre 1949 story and why (although not everybody explained why they chose the story they did) then skip this anthology and pick up Adventures in Time and Space by Raymond J. Healy and Frances McCormack (1946) or an early Groff Conklin collection like The Best of Science Fiction (1946), Treasury of Science Fiction (1946) or The Science Fiction Galaxy (1950) to see what was considered good at the time.

[TrumanCoyote]

A nice premise...but the result indicates why writers don't necessarily make the best editors. Only two of the stories (Kuttner's and Williamson's) were truly top of the line.