American Science Fiction: Eight Classic Novels of the 1960s (Boxed Set): The High Crusade / Way Station / Flowers for Algernon / ... And Call Me ... / Nova / Emphyrio (Library of America)

The books arrived ahead of schedule and in perfect condition. Very satisfied.

Hope there are editions for 70s, 80, 90s, 00, 10s forthcoming

Bought for someone else but looks great. Thanks

Daniel Keyes - Flowers for AlgernonPoul Anderson - The High CrusadeClifford D. Simak - Way StationRoger Zelazny - . . . And Call Me ConradJoanna Russ - Picnic on ParadiseSamuel R. Delany - NovaR.A. Lafferty - Past MasterJack Vance - EmphyrioAll of these novels appeared in the 1960s, and what can I say? I read all of them when they were new, or fairly new. They were, in the day, well-known. Simak, Zelazny, and Keyes' novels won awards and were much admired. Delany's novel won no awards, but it broke new ground for him as a writer, and it was much read by those of us who were interested in the New Wave. Lafferty's novel is quirky and amusing, and of all his novels, it's one of my favourites. Anderson's novel looks backward to the late 1950s in feel, but it's well-executed and a rollicking good read. Russ' novel was her first, and it marked her as a writer to be followed. And Vance's novel was colourful and unique.Novels of this period in sf tend to be short compared to contemporary contributions to the genre. They have an almost classical economy of form and directness wedded to a sense of fun and adventure; and during this period, many of the younger writers were experimenting with trying to inject literary modernist values into the forms of classic sf.The Library of America is to be commended for creating such a collection. It is not comprehensive. It gives a lovely sampler of what was being done back in the day, and on balance, all of it seemed worth doing.I do not know if contemporary readers would like these books, but these books all seem very *good* to me. If I recommended books to people, I would recommend these to people who want to experience excellent and entertaining sf from the time.