Where I Recommend an Author's Entire Oeuvre

Skirmish: The Great Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak by Clifford D. Simak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clifford Simak has long been one of my favorite writers--sometimes the favorite--and I recommend science fiction fans read almost everything by him.

I'll wait.

I'm not a big reader of short stories, though, just in general, and it's not what I love most about this author, but there are still so many things here that I do like that I still recommend this collection with 4 of 5 stars. (Seriously, though--read his novels. Then come back. They'll still be here.)

Mainly, I love how his SF is almost always rooted in rural America. Some everyman (almost always a man, yes) in Wisconsin or the like encounters something strange, and he and his dog have to figure out what the deal is. He often has robots, but they are usually genteel and quiet and evolved, like a friendly Vulcan. His writing is so grounded in wooded places and cabins and country highways and quiet Main Streets and farms that his writing is often called pastoral. And I like it. I like the feeling in such stories, the nostalgic mood it puts me in, even in the middle of science fiction.

There's a lot of that here. These are short stories, not novels, so (as you know) they follow different rules, and as a result I have less closure on some than I really prefer, but I still enjoyed all of them. And as a True Fan, I'll always root for Clifford Simak.

And as a post script--I picked up this book at my high school when it was set out as a discard, and I sorta dig the library dust jacket and pocket up front with the school's name on it. Reading out of it reminds me of reading books with students, my favorite part of the nearly 30 years I spent there. Though I'm not a teacher man any more, I couldn't help musing at the end of every story, "I wonder if this would have worked well with my students?" I wish sometimes I could find out.

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