The Best of the Best, Part Two

by Judith Merril (Editor), Robert Sheckley (Contributor), Damon Knight (Contributor)

Contents:
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: Short Stories, Science Fiction

221 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

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

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag, one or two really good stories and very few bad ones. The only story I actively disliked was Isaac Asimov’s story. It is a testament to Merril’s skill as an editor that there are very few big flops in this collection. Highlights here are what one would expect, that is:
The Sound Sweep - J. G. Ballard
One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts - Shirley Jackson

Some surprises to me:
Day at The Beach - Carol Emshwiller
The Prize of Peril - Robert Sheckley
Plenitude - Will Worthington