And the Gods Laughed

Fredric Brown (1906-72) is generally recognized as one of the foremost practitioners of the science fiction short story, though most of his work has been allowed to go out of print. His short-short stories in particular are classics of compression, irony and wit. Most of these were collected in two long-unavailable volumes, Honeymoon in Hell and Nightmares and Geezenstacks. This new collection reprints the contents of those books, as well as a number of previously uncollected stories, including two tales of an intelligent talking rodent, ""The Star-Mouse'' and ``Mitkey Rides Again,'' that demonstrate Brown's sense of humor at its wildest, and several macabre mystery tales, including ``Granny's Birthday'' and ``The Joke.'' SF author Richard Lupoff's introduction is both an appreciation and a memoir. These 72 stories amply demonstrate that Brown's other work should be brought back into print. (October 19)