Well, maybe. It's a tough call because his short story collections are so damned good. Sheckley is known as the master of the lean and mean, the witty and the funny. He is one of the great wits of our age and his genius is most obvious in his very accessible and modest-looking stories. But the stories in this collection are like Borges puzzles or Calvino novels, posing simple but important problems and turning the plots in on themselves as only Sheckley can do. It's interesting to think about comparing the styles of Sheckley and Bradbury, both genius short story writers. Both are extremely bold storytellers and both have a lyrical conciseness. Both are funny and twisted and both are touching. But Sheckley is like a smirking master poker player while Bradbury deals you an amazing hand of hearts. Sheckley is to acid as Bradbury is to ecstacy. Sheckley's stories are simply as good as any stories in fantasy and science fiction. His characters are usually at the end of their rope and find extraordinary solutions to extraordinary problems. Sheckley is the original thinking-out-of-the-box guy. He's alternately nuts, a genius jokewriter, a philosophical scholar and a hard-hitting action writer. I'm tellin' ya, you've gotta read his stories and IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO?, along with CITIZEN IN SPACE and UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN HANDS, are the collections to start with. THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE THE ACCOUNTANT A WIND IS RISING THE ROBOT WHO LOOKED LIKE ME THE MNEMONE WARM THE NATIVE PROBLEM FISHING SEASON SHAPE BESIDE STILL WATERS SILVERSMITH WISHES MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BROMIDE FOOL’S MATE PILGRIMAGE TO EARTH ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE THE STORE OF THE WORLDS SEVENTH VICTIM CORDLE TO ONION TO CARROT IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE DO? THE PRIZE OF PERIL FEAR IN THE NIGHT CAN YOU FEEL ANYTHING WHEN I DO THIS? THE BATTLE THE MONSTERS THE PETRIFIED WORLD FIVE MINUTES EARLY MISS MOUSE AND THE FOURTH DIMENSION THE SKAG CASTLE THE HELPING HAND THE LAST DAYS OF (PARALLEL?) EARTH THE FUTURE LOST WILD TALENTS, INC. THE SWAMP THE FUTURE OF SEX: SPECULATIVE JOURNALISM THE LIFE OF ANYBODY GOODBYE FOREVER TO MR. PAIN THE SHAGGY AVERAGE AMERICAN MAN STORY SHOOTOUT IN THE TOY SHOP
