Many today may not know Kornbluth's name, but his bleak vision of popular culture can be seen, whether it is intentionally referenced in "RoboCop" or unintentionally paralled in "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

Kornbluth is a fine example of why that period of time was called the Golden Age of science fiction. Even in stories where the plot may be dated, or in potboilers like "Valerie" (a novel written under a pseudonym), Kornbluth's writing is always a pleasure and worth reading simply for his use of language and treatment of characters.

It is a shame this brilliant man died so young (and thus selfishly depriving readers of more of hs writing) and remarkable that no one has written his biography.

One day, perhaps, I shall work out why it is that bookstore shelves creak and groan under the weight of best-selling volumes whose greatest worth is as emergency toilet roll, while genuinely important, readable, inventive prose goes out of print before you can blink. Kornbluth is one of a number of almost forgotten writers, many of whom also died young, dismissed these days because they worked in science-fiction and the pulp markets. Little has been written since in the area of short stories to top the best of Kornbluth; and even those tales of his which have been overtaken by events (such as his story about the first manned rocket) are so original and well written that they remain far more than just period curiosities. Make the effort to find a copy of this collection and you are unlikely to regret it.

There is not a dud in this book...each story is a stone-cold SF masterpiece by a true genius who was cut down in his prime at age 35. If you haven't read Kornbluth, you are missing out on some of the finest SF stories anywhere. Includes the widely acknowledged SF masterwork, "The Marching Morons" that seems utterly prophetic for the 90s. Also has The Little Black Bag, many others. Kornbluth's work is almost too good for description. Funny, thought-provoking, fantastically prescient. And each story concludes with an absolute gem of a last line, some of the best finishes anywhere ("and the last thing he learned was that death is the end of pain" etc etc). If you like these, you will also love Kornbluth's brilliant satirical novel (co-authored with his best friend, Frederic Pohl), "The Space Merchants", a novel written in the 1950s that posits a world in which all of mankind has been taken over by gigantic advertising agencies...sounds a little too close to the truth for comfort? It is!

Too bad it's out of print--an interesting angle to the invading-aliens-make-us-docile story. Worth looking for.

I would never describe Wolfbane as great literature but it does have staying power. I read Wolfbane more than 35 years ago and still think of the novel's plot and ideas from time to time. It probably has the greatest appeal to young men who are feeling rebellious and nonconformist. But we all need help figuring out human nature and deciding what kind of human being we want to be. This is what makes Wolfbane a good read.