Science Fiction Book Club: May 1962 hardcover (Doubleday hardcover was the same year.) Jacket Design by Lawrence Ratzkin, 287 pages. Condition is VG+ in a VG(+) Dustjacket: tight and almost square (bottom is square, to has slight tilt); the usual light bumping to ends of spine; age tanning is mild and uniform. DJ shows small tears or wear along top edge and ends of spine, age-tanning to spine and flap-bends, 3/4" tear and fold-trace at bottom of back cover, 1" tear at bottom of spine, light wear to back cover. Considering the vintage - the flaws are minor, and the large areas are in good shape. No stamps, marks or writing - a very clean copy.

All the Traps of Earth and other stories - a collection by Clifford D. Simak (1962.) This is another good 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 set leans more toward humor and aliens.

Most paperback editions or British variants were abridged - for complete versions you should seek the Doubleday hardcover or its SFBC reprint, and the Avon 1978/1988 paperbacks. Known abridged editions include Macfadden (1963, 1967), Four Square (1964-UK), N.E.L. (1968-UK), Manor Books (1974.) [If you can find hardcovers or complete edtions of Strangers in the Universe and The Worlds of Clifford Simak to go with this, you will have the best 3 volumes of his short fiction - and a lot of good reading.]

"All the Traps of Earth" - A 600 year-old robot tries to remain himself, even though he must face the perils of nomadic space life to do so.

"Good Night, Mr. James" - Henderson James, alien psychologist, is on the trail of a vicious, man-killing puudly.

"Drop Dead" - The strange habits of Critters on an unexplored planet baffle a research team.

"No Life of Their Own" - The problems aliens, halflings and humans have in adjusting to one another on Earth.

"The Sitters" - Baby sitters from another planet have unusual effects on their charges.

"Crying Jag" - Wilburn, an alien, gets drunk on the sad stories he hears on Earth and by doing so, cures people of their woes.

"Installment Plan" - A ruthless trading company deceptively promises the Garsonians immortality for valuable podar plants.

"Condition of Employment" - Pilots are drugged with homesickness to enable them to withstand the brutal effects of travel in space.

"Project Mastodon" - Through the use of a time machine, a 3-man nation in the Pleistocene tries to gain diplomatic recognition by the United States.

These originally appeared in Magazine of F&SF (title story) and Galaxy (all the rest) - from 1951 to 1960, with most from the latter part of the decade.