The Best of John Brunner

The Best of John Brunner is a collection of science fiction short stories by British author John Brunner. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine/Del Rey in November 1988 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction.^[1]

Summary

The book contains seventeen short works of fiction by the author, together with an introduction by Joe Haldeman.^[1]

Contents

• "Introduction: The Brunner Mosaic" (Joe Haldeman)
• "The Totally Rich" (from Worlds of Tomorrow, Jun. 1963)
• "The Last Lonely Man" (from New Worlds SF no. 142, May/Jun. 1964)
• "Galactic Consumer Report No. 1: Inexpensive Time Machines" (from Galaxy Magazine, Dec. 1965)
• "Fair" (from New Worlds Science Fiction no. 45, Mar. 1956)
• "Such Stuff" (from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jun. 1962)
• "Galactic Consumer Report No. 2: Automatic Twin-Tube Wishing Machines" (from Galaxy Magazine, Jun. 1966)
• "Tracking with Close-ups (21) and (23)" (excerpts from Stand on Zanzibar, 1968)
• "X-Hero" (from Omni, Mar. 1980)
• "No Future in It" (from Science Fantasy, Sep. 1955)
• "Galactic Consumer Report No. 3: A Survey of the Membership" (from Galaxy Magazine, Dec. 1967)
• "What Friends Are For" (from Fellowship of the Stars, 1974)
• "The Taste of the Dish and the Savor of the Day" (from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aug. 1977)
• "Galactic Consumer Report No. 4: Thing-of-the-Month Clubs" (from Galaxy Magazine, Jan. 1969)
• "The Man Who Saw the Thousand-Year Reich" (from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov. 1981)
• "An Elixir for the Emperor" (from Fantastic Stories of Imagination, Nov. 1964)
• "The Suicide of Man" (from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Jul./Aug. 1978)
• "The Vitanuls" (from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jul. 1967)

Reception

The book was reviewed by Tom Whitmore in Locus no. 334, November 1988.^[1]

Awards

The book placed thirteenth in the 1989 Locus Poll Award for Best Collection. ^[1]

Notes