Customer Reviews

Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers

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While I agree with the previous reviewer that this collection is uneven and even a 'hodge-podge,' I didn't find that to be such a bad thing. True, it's not a collection of classic sci-fi stories, as the dust jacket may make it seem--but the wide variety of stories makes the collection enjoyably unpredictable, avoiding the repetitiveness that plagues some collections of science fiction. I first read this anthology in elementary school, and found a couple of its stories so entrancing that I have continued to check it out from time to time just to reread those stories.

In my opinion, it's worth tracking down a copy of this book just for the story "The Web Dancer," which is incredibly beautiful and sad and has had an enormous influence on me. The fact that it also contains "And Who Would Pity A Swan?," "The Hob," the title story, and the story about glaciers whose title I don't remember makes it even more worthwhile. Certainly there are a few poorly constructed or just plain bad stories, as pointed out by the other reviewer, but their presence doesn't destroy or dominate the anthology to such an extent as to make it not worth reading.

Besides, someone connected with my high school gave this book a good review. How can I disagree?

The cover and title of this anthology would lead readers to believe it will contain some off-the-wall SF stories in similar idiosyncratic style. The opening foreword by Isaac Asimov states that the stories chosen for this anthology mostly take place on Earth and feature young protagonists. All I can say is, the foreword and cover seem to have been created for a different anthology. The Introduction by Charles Ardai is more helpful in warning readers that this collection of stories ranges over a variety of fantastic worlds of all sorts. This anthology contains a veritable hodge-podge of stories from Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

Despite my complaints, there are some worthwhile stories included in this anthology. The illustrious Isaac Asimov's Profession-the story that sparked this anthology-is one such inclusion. I also enjoyed And Who Would Pity a Swan? by Connie Willis, even though I was not expecting to find a fairy-tale retelling in this particular anthology and Still Time by James Patrick Kelly was a decent look at one man facing a nuclear war. But the less than inspiring stories are numerous. The Homesick Chicken by Edward D. Hoch is entirely set up for a bad joke. The White Babe by Jane Yolen feels like an incomplete piece. Fans of her Great Alta Saga will recognize the origins of White Jenna here, but the story itself doesn't feel satisfying. Contrary to Asimov's opening foreword, the stories here are from all different worlds-some SF, some fantasy, some a mixture. While I don't necessarily mind this, the overall effect of the packaging is misleading.

If you don't mind a sort of Pot Luck approach to an anthology, you might want to see if your local library has a copy of this to borrow. But I'm not certain it's worth buying. Most of the contributors to this anthology have published far better work in their years at writing. If you're looking for some excellent, quirky SF anthologies, I suggest skipping this one and checking out MICROCOSMIC TALES for a range of short-short classic SF stories, or some volumes of THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Harry's is one of the best shorts around. Have you ever been to Peru? Why bother - I bet you haven't seen what's down the street. Harry's make's this point most eloquently.