But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.More than a hundred years before, an alien named Ulysses had recruited Enoch as the keeper of Earth's only galactic transfer station. Now, as Enoch studies the progress of Earth and tends the tanks where the aliens appear, the charts he made indicate his world is doomed to destruction. His alien friends can only offer help that seems worse than the dreaded disaster. Then he discovers the horror that lies across the galaxy...

    You meet a souvenir hunter in the Thirtieth Century and a schoolgirl who tries to cope with the teaching methods of the Twenty-second Century. You share the terror of an astronaut in a “haunted” space suit and the dilemma of a wife whose husband knows a common chemical formula for destroying the earth. In short, you feel the impact, the originality, and the uncanny atmosphere created by these science fiction experts not once—but 50 times.Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales have been selected for their concise writing, and for punch lines that leave the reader “surprised, shocked, and delighted at the final sentence.” According to the editors, another important aspect of this literary form is “evocation of a background differing from our own.” Consequently, though some of the stories are just a page long, the reading experience is always excitingly unique.Ballade of an artificial satellite / Paul Anderson --Fun they had / Isaac Astimov --Men are differenct / Alan Bloch --Ambassadors / Anthoy Boucher --Weapon / Fredric Brown --Random sample / T.P. Caravan --Oscar / Cleve Cartmill --Mist / Peter Cartur --Teething ring / James Causey --Haunted space suit / Arthur C. Clarke --Stair Trick / Mildred Clingerman --Unwelcome tenant / Roger Dee --Mathematicians / Arthur Feldman --Third level / Jack Finney --Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! / Stuart Friedman --Figure / Edward Grendon --Rag thing / David Grinnell --Good provider / Marion Gross --Columbus was a dope / Robert A. Heinlein --Texas Week / Albert Hernhuter --Hilda / H.B. Hickey --Choice / W. Hilton-Young --Not with a bang / Damon Knight --Altar at midnight / C.M. Kornbluth --Bad day for sales / Fritz Leiber --Who's cribbing? Jack Lewis --Spectator sport / John D. MacDonald --Cricket ball / Avro Manhattan --Double-take / Winston K. Marks --Prolog / John P. McKnight --Available data on the worp reaction / Lion Miller --Narapoia / Alan Nelson --Tiger by the tail / Alan E. Nourse --Counter charm / Peter Phillips --Fly / Arthur Porges --Business, as usual / Mack Reynolds --Two weeks in August / Frank M. Robinson --See? / Edward G. Robles, Jr. --Appointment at noon / Eric Frank Russell --We don't want any trouble / James H. Schmitz --Built down logically / Howard Schoenfeld --Egg a month from all over / Idris Seabright --Perfect woman / Robert Sheckley --Hunters / Walt Sheldon --Martian and the magician / Evelyn E. Smith --Barney / Will Stanton --Talent / Theodore Sturgeon --Project hush / Willian Tenn --Great judge / A.E. Van Vogt --Emergency landing / Ralph Williams --Obviously suicide / S. Fowler Wright --Postlude --Six Haiku / Karen Anderson

    The group includes a forward-thinking millionaire and his family, a levelheaded Jewish scientist, a playboy, an aging African American servant and his daughter, a gigolo and the glamorous woman who has been his mistress, a beautiful Chinese girl, a young meter reader, two children, and a Japanese engineer. Fully aware of the outcome of the war that had raged briefly above them, the survivors seethe with hatred, fall into depression over their losses, rise to moments of superhuman bravery, and lapse into behavior that reflects their human weaknesses. Philip Wylie mercilessly predicts the inevitable end of a world that continues to function as selfishly and as barbarously as our own.

    Represented in this anthology are a number of practicing physicians -- including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (M.D.!) -- as well as such well-known science fictioneers as Arthur C. Clarke, C.M. Kornbluth, and Murray Leinster, and such classical writers as Poe and Hawthorne. Some of the stories ("The Man Without an Appetite" and "Family Resemblance") are lighthearted. Some ("The Little Black Bag" and "A Matter of Ethics") are biting. Some ("Rappacini's Daughter" and "The Brothers") are ghoulish. All are compelling, and all project a sometimes titillating, sometimes macabre, but always incisive view of the far-out worlds of medicine. The editors prescribe this collection for the fun of it: to relax tensions and expand the imagination. But if you come across some provacative, serious ideas, don't be startled -- science fiction is full of such intriguing surprises.CONTENTS:The Man Without an Appetite by Miles J. BreuerOut of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting by Arthur C. ClarkeThe Brothers by Clifton Dance, Jr.The Great Keinpatz Experiment by Arthur Conan DoyleCompound B by David Harold FinkRappacini's Daughter by Nathaniel HawthorneThe Psychophonic Nurse by David H. KellerThe Little Black Bag by C.M. KornbluthRibbon in the Sky by Murray LeinsterMate in Two Moves by Winston K. MarksBedside Manner by William MorrisonThe Shopdropper by Alan NelsonFamily Resemblance by Alan E. NourseFacts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan PoeEmergency Operation by Arthuer PorgesA Matter of Ethics by J.R. ShangoBolden's Pets by F.L. WallaceExpedition Mercy by J.A. Winter

    It has also appeared in Jack Vance's collections Green Magic (Underwood-Miller, 1979) and The Narrow Land (DAW, 1982).

    E-Reads is proud to re-publish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections, all with striking new covers. Rediscover--or discover for the first time--a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was "a precursor to Douglas Adams."One of the best futurist writers ever imagines an international detective, a professional risk-taker working outside government, law and order and takes him on an adventure to what might as well be an alien planet as he goes on a mission into deepest Iran in search of the black opium of Baluchistan.