Kurt Vonnegut

The reanimated man / Mary Shelley -- The mummy / Jane Webb -- The new Frankenstein / William Maginn -- The bell-tower / Herman Melville -- The vivisector / Ronald Ross -- The future Eve / Villiers de l'Isle Adam -- The incubated girl / Fred T. Jane -- The surgeon's experiment / W.C. Morrow -- Some experiments with a head / Dick Donovan -- The new Frankenstein / E.E. Kellett -- The man who made a man / Harle Oren Cummins -- Frankenstein II / Leonard Merrick -- The composite brain / Robert S. Carr -- Demons of the film colony / Theodore LeBerthon -- Frankenstein ; or, The man and the monster! / H.M. Milner -- Frankenstein : the man who made a monster / Garrett Ford and Francis Faragoh -- The bride of Frankenstein / John L. Balderston and William Hurlbut -- The workshop of filthy creation / Robert Muller -- The dead man / Fritz Leiber -- The curse of Frankenstein / Jimmy Sangster (cont.) The reanimator / H.P. Lovecraft -- Transformation / Mary Shelley -- The golem / Gustav Meyrink -- Death of a professor / Michael Hervey -- Frankenstein, Unlimited / H.A. Highstone -- IT / Theodore Sturgeon -- Wednesday's child / William Tenn -- Dial "F" for Frankenstein / Arthur C. Clarke -- The plot is the thing / Robert Bloch -- Fortitude / Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- Summertime was nearly over / Brian Aldiss -- At last, the true story of Frankenstein / Harry Harrison.

A perfect morning (from The young lions) / Irwin Shaw Lunghua camp (from Empire of the Sun) / J.G. Ballard The journey (from A town like Alice) / Nevil Shute The birth of an idea (from The man who never was) / Ewen Montague The big day (from From here to eternity) / James Jones Abducting the general (from Ill met by midnight) / W. Stanley Moss The landing at Kuralei (from Tales of the South Pacific) / James A. Michener Shall I live for a ghost (from The last enemy) / Richard Hillary Billy Pilgrim (from Slaughterhouse Five) / Kurt Vonnegut Battalion in defense (from Officers and gentlemen) / Evelyn Waugh Anopopei (from The naked and the dead) / Norman Mailer 'Plane land here' (from Wingate's raiders) / Charles J. Rolo Mission asymptote (from The white rabbit) / Bruce Marshall Fraternizing with the enemy? (from Reach for the sky) / Paul Brickhill Shooting party (from Grand party) Graham Brooks H-hour (from The longest day) / Cornelius Ryan Into Germany (from Carve her name with pride) / R.J. Minney Ironbottom Sound (from Ironbottom Sound) / Lindsay Baly The first bid for freedom (from The Colditz story) / P.R. Reed Some were unlucky (from Enemy coast ahead) / Guy Gibson, VC May 1941 (from Nella Last's diary) / Nella Last Major major major major (from Catch 22) / Joseph Heller The battle of the bulge (from The face of war) / Martha Gelhorn The invasion of Papua (from Retreat from Kokoda) / Raymond Paull No trouble at all (from The stories of flying officer X) / H.E. Bates Stalingrad The story of the battle (from Stalingrad point of return) / Ronald Seth The soldier looks for his family / John Prebble The white mouse and the Maquis d'Auvergne (from The white mouse) / Nancy Wake Fear of death / F.J. Salfeld The invaders (from The Moon is down) / John Steinbeck The compass rose (from The cruel sea) / Nicholas Monsarrat The diary of a desert rat (from The diary of a desert rat) / R.L. Crimp The Mannerheim Line (from Of many men) / James Aldridge Midway (from Torpedo Junction) / Robert J. Casey Hiroshima the fire (from Hiroshima) / John Hersey

A collection of original science fiction stories by such noted authors as Ray Bradbury, Ben Bova, and Kurt Vonnegut.

“Bagombo Snuff Box resurrects Vonnegut’s earliest efforts, stories written during the fifties and sixties for such popular venues as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s. In his engagingly autobiographical introduction, Vonnegut describes his stints as a Chicago journalist and PR man for General Electric in Schenectady, New York; his decision to supplement his income by writing; and his rapid success and evolution into a full-time writer. So, here are his literary roots, a set of stories that reflects their era’s eagerness to turn the horrors of war into anecdote and to equate technology with progress. Unabashedly fablelike, they can be either sly or sweet, sentimental or vaudevillian, but all are quietly subversive…Rich in low-key humor and good old-fashioned morality, Vonnegut’s stories are both wily and tender.” —Booklist TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface by Peter Reed Introduction Thanasphere Mnemonics Any Reasonable Offer The Package The No-Talent Kid Poor Little Rich Town Souvenir The Cruise of the Jolly Roger Custom-Made Bride Ambitious Sophomore Bagombo Snuff Box The Powder-Blue Dragon A Present for Big Saint Nick Unpaid Consultant Der Arme Dolmetscher The Boy Who Hated Girls This Son of Mine A Night for Love Find Me a Dream Runaways 2BR02B Lovers Anonymous Hal Irwin’s Magic Lamp

Vonnegut's first collection of short stories, includes 12 wickedly funny stories told as only Vonnegut can.

Ballet dancers Adam and Sandra find themselves ill-prepared for the demands of stardom, promised when an aging and ailing ballet master finds in Sandra a muse who may fulfill his dream of creating an opulent performance of "Sleeping Beauty."

Contains: "Final Blackouts," an Introduction / Harlan Ellison -- The End of the World (1872) / Eugene Mouton -- The Comet (1920) / W.E.B. DuBois -- The Pedestrian (1951) / Ray Bradbury -- No Morning After (1954) / Arthur C. Clarke -- Upon the Dull Earth (1954) / Philip K. Dick -- 2 B R 0 2 B (1962) / Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967) / Harlan Ellison -- The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1973) / Ursula K. LeGuin -- The Engineer and the Executioner (1976) / Brian M. Stableford -- [The End of the Whole Mess (1986) / Stephen King]( Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back (1992) / Joe R. Lansdale -- Judgment Engine (1995) / Greg Bear -- Automatic (2007) / Erika T. Satifka -- The Black Mould (2011) / Mark Samuels -- The Pretence (2013) /Ramsey Campbell -- Inventory (2013) / Carmen Maria Machado.

Jackie Sees a Star by Marion Zimmer Bradley All Cats are Gray by Andre Norton Song in a Minor Key by C. L. Moore Travel Diary by Alfred Bester Pythias by Frederik Pohl The Good Neighbors by Edgar Pangborn The Sound of Silence by Barbara Constant The Intruder by Emil Petaja An Ounce of Cure by Alan Edward Nourse Longevity by Therese Windser The Ghost of Mohammed Din by Clark Ashton Smith Of Time and Texas by William F. Nolan Native Son by Thelma Hamm Evans Gorgono and Slith by Ray Bradbury The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick The Putnam Tradition by Sonya Dorman Gods of the North by Robert E. Howard Small World by William F. Nolan Nightmare on the Nose by Evelyn E. Smith Collector's Item by Robert F. Young Crossroads of Destiny by H. Beam Piper The Hoofer by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Doorstep by Keith Laumer The Jovian Jest by Lilith Lorraine Dream World by R. A. Lafferty Shatter the Wall by Sydney Van Scyoc The Big Engine by Fritz Leiber Misbegotten Missionary by Isaac Asimov The One and the Many by Milton Lesser The Glory of Ippling by Helen M. Urban Where There's Hope by Jerome Bixby 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Disqualified by Charles L. Fontenay No Strings Attached by Lester del Rey Zeritsky's Law by Ann Griffith Say Hello for Me by Frank W. Coggins Navy Day by Harry Harrison The Undersea Tube by Lucile Taylor Hansen Probability by Louis Trimble No Shield from the Dead by Gordon R. Dickson I'll Kill You Tomorrow by Helen Huber The Secret of Kralitz by Henry Kuttner Never Stop to Pat a Kitten by Miriam Allen deFord More than Shadow by Dorothy Quick The Monkey Spoons by Mary Elizabeth Counselman Witch of the Demon Seas by Poul Anderson The Piebald Hippogriff by Karen Anderson The Vampire of Wembley by Edgar Wallace Riya's Foundling by Algis Budrys Ask a Foolish Question by Robert Sheckley Flight From Tomorrow by H. Beam Piper Robots of the World! Arise! by Mari Wolf The Worlds of If by Stanley G. Weinbaum The Adventurer by C. M. Kornbluth Decision by Frank M. Robinson The Waker Dreams by Richard Matheson A Matter of Proportion by Anne Walker One-Shot by James Blish McILVAINE'S Star by August Derleth The Man with the Nose by Rhoda Broughton Operation Haystack by Frank Herbert The Nothing Equation by Tom Godwin The Man Who Saw the Future by Edmond Hamilton Common Denominator by John D. MacDonald The Natives by Katherine MacLEAN The Lonely by Judith Merril The Street That Wasn't There by Clifford D. Simak and Carl Jacobi Food for Friendship by E. C. Tubb Half Around Pluto by Manly Wade Wellman Project Hush by William Tenn Time Enough At Last by Lynn Venable Bride of the Dark One by Florence Verbell Brown The Cosmic Express by Jack Williamson The Next Logical Step by Ben Bova They Twinkled like Jewels by Philip José Farmer Shandy by Ron Goulart Tight Squeeze by Dean C. Ing Extracts from the Galactick Almanack by Laurence Janifer Postmark Ganymede by Robert Silverberg Hot Planet by Hal Clement The Tenth Scholar by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury Strain by L. Ron Hubbard The Time of Cold by Mary Carlson The Customs Lounge by Annie Proulx I, Executioner by Ted White and Terry Carr and many more

The book explores one of Vonnegut's favorite recurring themes, which is his belief in our need to belong extended families and how they would be an adequate, larger and more useful substitute for biological ones. The most endearing section of the novel, in my opinion, lies in its introduction, where Vonnegut candidly describes his beloved sister's death, which took place shortly after she had learnt of a train accident where her husband and children had been killed. As for the novel's plot, it follows the relationship of a boy and his sister who grow up together in isolation from the outside world because of their unsightliness. The boy turns out to be seen as more presentable and is separated from his sister, who grows to resent him for his seemingly desertion. Through some twists and turns they successively reunite and separate and after a major catastrophe, the boy becomes president of the United States, his campaign being centered on the formation of extended families on a grand scale.

Presents selections of mainstream and alternative American literatue including both fiction and nonfiction, that discuss a broad spectrum of subjects.