Christopher Cerf, Norman Spinrad, Leslie A. Fiedler : Paperback Authorities


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Here are three anthologies, issued in mass-market-sized paperbacks from 1966 to 1975, that offered various expert takes on science fiction or science fantasy, as major publishers were dipping their toes into the market for serious anthologies.

Christopher Cerf, son of Random House (publisher of Vintage Books) co-founder Bennett Cerf, offers a half-apologetic, half-defensive introduction: "This is not to claim that science fiction today has reached the status of great literature -- certainly, the majority of good science fantasy stories are written primarily to entertain. The point of this anthology is to illustrate that at least some of the body of work broadly classified as fantasy is literate, provocative, and absorbing." The subtitle of the book is "Twenty Stories in the Modern Manner." The William Styron story is original to the book.

Norman Spinrad, a decade into a career as a provocative author, assembled a book for the trade paperback imprint of Doubleday, which though mass market paperback sized has heavier-than-usual cover stock and a higher-than-usual cover price ($3.50, at a time most mass market paperbacks ran $1.50), giving it the flavor of a basic textbook, though Spinrad doesn't use that term. He does provide an introduction to modern sf, and three intermediate essays for the book's three sections: "The Golden Age", "The Postwar Awakening", "The Full Flowering". And he provides an appendix of "additional significant works," novels especially by authors who couldn't be included in this book.

A literary critic whose interests included science fiction, Leslie A. Fiedler subtitled his book, from Dell's Laurel imprint, "A Historical-Critical Anthology of Science Fiction." HIs introduction is a 13-page history of the field. Stories are grouped into "The Beginnings," "The Golden Age," and "New Directions," with brief introductions to each section.

Three stories, by Del Rey, Godwin, and Le Guin, are used twice among these three books. And all three use stories by Ballard and Clarke, but different stories in each book.

  • The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy, Christopher Cerf, ed. (Vintage, 1966) [isfdb]
  • Modern Science Fiction, Norman Spinrad, ed. (Anchor, 1974) [isfdb]
  • In Dreams Awake, Leslie A. Fiedler, ed. (Dell, 1975) [isfdb]



Combined Contents by Author and Title


Isaac Asimov
  • Liar! (Astounding May 1941) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Nightfall (Astounding Sep 1941) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • J. G. Ballard
  • Chronopolis (New Worlds Jun 1960) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy (Ambit #31 1966) -- In Dreams Awake
  • The Voices of Time (New Worlds Oct 1960) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Alfred Bester
  • 5,271,009 (F&SF Mar 1954) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • The Men Who Murdered Mohammed (F&SF Oct 1958) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Jerome Bixby
  • It's a Good Life (Star Science Fiction Stories, 1953) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Ray Bradbury
  • There Will Come Soft Rains (Colliers May 6 1950) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
          -- In Dreams Awake
  • Fredric Brown
  • Immortality (Gent Feb 1961) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • John C. M. Brust
  • The Red White and Blue Rum Collins (Harvard Lampoon ) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Anthony Burgess
  • The Muse (The Hudson Review Spr 1968) -- In Dreams Awake
  • John W. Campbell, Jr.
  • Twilight (Astounding Nov 1934) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Arthur C. Clarke
  • The Nine Billion Names of God (Star Science Fiction Stories, 1953) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Patent Pending (Argosy Nov 1954) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • The Star (Infinity Science Fiction Nov 1955) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Roald Dahl
  • The Great Automatic Grammatisator (Someone Like You, 1953) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Avram Davidson
  • Or All the Seas with Oysters (Galaxy May 1958) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Lester del Rey
  • Helen O'Loy (Astounding Dec 1938) -- Modern Science Fiction
          -- In Dreams Awake
  • Samuel R. Delany
  • Aye, and Gomorrah... (Dangerous Visions, 1967) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (New Worlds Dec 1968) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Philip K. Dick
  • Faith of Our Fathers (Dangerous Visions, 1967) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Thomas M. Disch
  • Descending (Fantastic Jul 1964) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Harlan Ellison
  • At the Mouse Circus (New Dimensions I, 1971) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • 'Repent, Harlequin!' said the Ticktockman (Galaxy Dec 1965) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Philip José Farmer
  • Don't Wash the Carats (Orbit 3, 1968) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Mother (Thrilling Wonder Stories Apr 1953) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Martin Gardner
  • No-Sided Professor (Esquire Jan 1947) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Jose Maria Gironella
  • The Death of the Sea -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Tom Godwin
  • The Cold Equations (Astounding Aug 1954) -- Modern Science Fiction
          -- In Dreams Awake
  • Robert A. Heinlein
  • The Green Hills of Earth (The Saturday Evening Post Feb 8 1947) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Julian Kawalec
  • I Kill Myself (The Modern Polish Mind, 1962) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Rudyard Kipling
  • Unprofessional (Saturday Review of Literature Oct 1930) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Damon Knight
  • The Analogues (Astounding Jan 1952) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Stranger Station (F&SF Dec 1956) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • C. M. Kornbluth
  • The Marching Morons (Galaxy Apr 1951) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • The Rocket of 1955 (Escape Aug 1939) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Nine Lives (Playboy Nov 1969) -- Modern Science Fiction
          -- In Dreams Awake
  • H. P. Lovecraft
  • The Colour Out of Space (Amazing Sep 1927) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Herman Melville
  • The Tartarus of Maids -- In Dreams Awake
  • Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  • A Canticle for Leibowitz (F&SF Apr 1955) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Michael Moorcock
  • The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius (New Worlds Sep 1965) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion (Burton's Gentlemen’s Magazine Dec 1839) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Joanna Russ
  • The Second Inquisition (Orbit 6, 1970) -- In Dreams Awake
  • Idris Seabright
  • An Egg a Month from All Over (F&SF Oct 1952) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Robert Sheckley
  • Something for Nothing (Galaxy Jun 1954) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Robert Silverberg
  • In Entropy's Jaws (Infinity, 1971) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Clifford D. Simak
  • Shadow Show (F&SF Nov 1953) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Norman Spinrad
  • No Direction Home (New Worlds Quarterly 2, 1971) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Theodore Sturgeon
  • Affair with a Green Monkey (Venture May 1957) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • And Now the News... (F&SF Dec 1956) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • William Styron
  • Pie in the Sky -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy [original]
  • Mark Twain
  • Three Thousand Years Among the Microbes -- In Dreams Awake
  • A. E. van Vogt
  • Enchanted Village (Other Worlds Science Stories Jul 1950) -- Modern Science Fiction
  • Resurrection (Astounding Aug 1948) -- In Dreams Awake
  • H. G. Wells
  • The Crystal Egg (The New Review May 1897) -- In Dreams Awake
  • John Wyndham
  • Random Quest (Consider Her Ways and Others, 1961) -- The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy
  • Roger Zelazny
  • For a Breath I Tarry (New Worlds Mar 1966) -- Modern Science Fiction

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