First published in 1989 by editor David G Hatwell, this Genre Anthology contains over fifty stories, chosen from all over the world.
Works in this anthology:
- "Harrison Bergeron", by Kurt Vonnegut (1961, English)
- "Forgetfulness", by John W. Campbell (1937, English)
- "Special Flight", by John Berryman (1939, English)
- "Chronopolis", by JG Ballard (1960, English)
- "Triceratops", by Kono Tensei (1982, Japanese)
- "The Man Who Lost The Sea", by Theodore Sturgeon (1959, English)
- "On The Inside Track", by Karl Michael Armer (1986, German)
- "The Golem", by Avram Davidson (1955, English)
- "The New Prehistory", by Rene Rebetez Cortes (1967, Spanish)
- "A Meeting With Medusa", by Arthur C. Clarke (1971, English)
- "The Valley Of Echoes", by Gerard Klein (1959, French)
- "The Fifth Head Of Cerberus", by Gene Wolfe (1972, English)
- "The Chaste Planet", by John Updike (1975, English)
- "The Blind Pilot", by Nathalie Henneberg (1959, French)
- "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed", by Alfred Bester (1958, English)
- "Pairpuppets", by Manuel Van Loggem (1972, Dutch)
- "Two Dooms", by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1958, English)
- "Tale Of The Computer That Fought A Dragon", by Stanisław Lem (1964, Polish)
- "The Green Hills of Earth", by Robert A. Heinlein (1947, English)
- "Ghost V", by Robert Sheckley (1954, English)
- "The Phantom Of Kansas", by John Varley (1976, English)
- "Captain Nemos Last Adventure", by Josef Nesvadba (1960, Czech)
- "Inconstant Moon", by Larry Niven (1971, English)
- "The Gold At The Starbows End", by Frederik Pohl (1972, English)
- "A Sign In Space", by Italo Calvino (1964, Italian)
- "The Spiral", by Italo Calvino (1965, Italian)
- "The Dead Past", by Isaac Asimov (1956, English)
- "The Lens", by Annemarie Van Ewijck (1984, English)
- "The Hurkle Is A Happy Beast", by Theodore Sturgeon (1949, English)
- "Zero Hour", by Ray Bradbury (1947, English)
- "Nine Lives", by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969, English)
- "The Muse", by Anthony Burgess (1968, English)
- "The Public Hating", by Steve Allen (1955, English)
- "Poor Superman", by Fritz Leiber (1951, English)
- "Angouleme", by Thomas M. Disch (1971, English)
- "Stranger Station", by Damon Knight (1956, English)
- "The Dead Fish", by Boris Vian (1947, French)
- "I Was The First To Find You", by Kirill Bulychev (1970, Russian)
- "The Lineman", by Walter M Miller Jr (1957, English)
- "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", by Jorge Luis Borges (1940, Spanish)
- "Codemus", by Tor Age Bringsvaerd (1968, Norwegian Bokmal)
- "A Kind Of Artistry", by Brian Aldiss (1962, English)
- "Second Variety", by Philip K. Dick (1953, English)
- "Weihnachtsabend", by Keith Roberts (1972, English)
- "I Do Not Love Thee Doctor Fell", by Robert Bloch (1955)
- "Aye, and Gomorrah...", by Samuel R. Delany (1967, English)
- "How Erg The Self Inducting Slew A Paleface", by Stanisław Lem (1964, Polish)
- "Nobodys Home", by Joanna Russ (1972, English)
- "Party Line", by Gerard Klein (1969, French)
- "The Proud Robot", by Lewis Padgett (1943, English)
- "Vintage Season", by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (1946, English)
- "The Way To Amalteia", by Boris Strugatsky and Arkady Strugatsky (1960, Russian)
Tropes appearing in this work:
- Artistic License – Space: The cover presents an awesome Earth-rise from behind the moon, framed by a red nebula that goes from hot pink to dark black. Awesome cover, but complete fiction.
- Doorstopper: Due to the inclusion of over fifty stories (many of which are at the longer end of Short Story), this Anthology clocks in at over 1100 pages.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The cover of the Anthology mentions Clifton Fadiman wrote the introduction because, at the time, he was a famous celebrity in the Science Fiction community, having made the transition to mainstream publicity.
- Novelette:
- "Captain Nemos Last Adventure", by Josef Nesvadba (1960)
- "Chronopolis", by JG Ballard (1960)
- "The Dead Past", by Isaac Asimov
- "Forgetfulness", by John W. Campbell (1937)
- "Inconstant Moon", by Larry Niven (1971)
- "A Kind Of Artistry", by Brian Aldiss (1962)
- "A Meeting With Medusa", by Arthur C. Clarke (1971)
- "Nine Lives", by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
- "On The Inside Track", by Karl Michael Armer (1986)
- "Party Line", by Gerard Klein (1969)
- "The Phantom Of Kansas", by John Varley (1976)
- "Poor Superman", by Fritz Leiber (1951)
- "The Proud Robot", by Lewis Padgett (1943)
- "Second Variety", by Philip K. Dick (1953)
- "Special Flight", by John Berryman (1939)
- "Stranger Station", by Damon Knight (1956)
- "Triceratops", by Kono Tensei (1982)
- "Vintage Season", by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (1946)
- "Weihnachtsabend", by Keith Roberts (1972)
- Novella:
- "The Fifth Head Of Cerberus", by Gene Wolfe (1972)
- "The Gold At The Starbows End", by Frederik Pohl (1972)
- "The Lineman", by Walter M Miller Jr (1957)
- "Two Dooms", by Cyril M. Kornbluth (1958)
- "The Way To Amalteia", by Boris Strugatsky and Arkady Strugatsky (1960)
- One-Word Title:
- "Angouleme", by Thomas M. Disch (1971)
- "Chronopolis", by JG Ballard (1960)
- "Codemus", by Tor Age Bringsvaerd (1968)
- "Pairpuppets", by Manuel Van Loggem (1972)
- "Triceratops", by Kono Tensei (1982)
- "Weihnachtsabend", by Keith Roberts (1972)
- Pen Name: "The Proud Robot" is credited to Lewis Padgett, a name used by the team of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore when co-authoring a story.