Science Fiction Book Club: August 1960 hardcover (Simon & Shuster hardcover was earlier the same year.) Jacket design by Saul Lambert, 302 pages. Condition is near-Fine in a VG+ to near-Fine Dustjacket: tight and almost square, age tanning is very mild (very nice for its age.) No stamps, marks or writing - a very clean copy. DJ is in mostly excellent shape, with light wear at ends of spine; a couple of short (1/4", 1/2") tears at top near spine; 1" tear and small chip (1/4") at middle of bottom edge of front cover. Aside from the noted defects, there is very little wear or accumulated dirt - remarkable for its vintage.

The Worlds of Clifford Simak, a (1960) collection of 12 short stories or novelets by Clifford D. Simak. This is an excellent collection to sample to find out why you should read Simak - it hooked me when I started reading SF. This is Simak at his prime: with a somewhat pastoral voice and values, leavened with a quirky sense of humor and a taste for the weird or alien. This was split into 2 paperbacks: a 6 story subset with the same title (1961), with the rest in a collection titled: Other Worlds of Clifford Simak (1962.) There was a British derivative (9 of 12 stories) in 1961 called Aliens for Neighbors, which was further abridged to 6 stories for a British paperback of that title. The original Simon & Shuster edition was printed on poor quality paper which did not age well, so I consider this to be the preferred edition - not just for the better paper, but as one of 2 possible ways to get the complete collection. This is the first appearance in a Simak collection for any of these. "The Big Front Yard" won the 1959 Hugo Award for "best short fiction."

Dusty Zebra
Honorable Opponent
Carbon Copy
Founding Father
Idiot's Crusade
The Big Front Yard
Operation Stinky
Jackpot
Death Scene
Green Thumb
Lulu
Neighbor

Original appearances from 1954 to 1958 - most in Galaxy, plus 2 from Astounding, and one from Infinity.