The Masque Of Manana
The 45 pieces in this stellar collection, though they include some soberer entries (e.g., "A Wind Is Rising"), make it clear that Sheckley is one of sf's all-time masters of the humorous or satirical short story. "The Lifeboat Mutiny" represents Sheckley's classic Triple A Ace Interplanetary Decontamination Agency at its risible best (all the other stories of that agency are here, too). "Pilgrimage to Earth" presents an edgy version of the farm-boy-(from a far colony)-in-the-big-city (a decadent Earth) scenario, and "Skulking Permit," "Gray Flannel Armor," "Fool's Mate," and a dozen others just as good places for innocent readers to start an acquaintance with Sheckley. And it must be said that, though such readers are greatly served by this volume, so too, because much of Sheckley's work has been hard to come by for a good many years, are old fans. A welcome replacement for all those tattered paperbacks on the sf shelves.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved