FFB: The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Third Series -- Anthony Boucher & J. Francis McComas, Editors

So now we come to the third book I got in my first order from the Science Fiction Book Club.  Is it any wonder that I was hooked after three such great books?  Well, I was hooked before, but you know what I mean.  The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was probably my overall favorite of all the SF digests I was reading in the '50s, but I loved them all.  

In this anthology, my favorite story was "Vandy, Vandy," the first of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John Stories that I read, but certainly not the last.  I love the whole series, and one of the highlights of the first convention I ever attended was getting Wellman to sign my Ballantine collection of those stories.  I was also impressed by Bester's "Star Light, Star Bright," Ward Moore's "Lot," and Boucher's "Snulbug."  And probably others at the time, but those are the ones I remember.  I was never as fond of the "Tales from Gavagan's Bar" as I was of other stories by De Camp and Pratt, but I probably got a kick out of this one.  And you'll notice that there's a story by William Lindsay Gresham of Nightmare Alley fame.  I was in love with short stories in the middle '50s, and the three collections I got from the SF Book Club were truly wonderful stuff.  Here's the ToC:

· Introduction · Anthony Boucher & J. Francis McComas · in
· Attitudes [Father John Carmody] · Philip José Farmer · nv F&SF Oct ’53
· Maybe Just a Little One · Reginald Bretnor · ss Harper’s Aug ’47; F&SF Feb ’53
· Solar Systems... · E. D. B. · pm F&SF Feb ’53
· The Star Gypsies · William Lindsay Gresham · ss F&SF Jul ’53
· The Naming of Names · Herman W. Mudgett · pm F&SF Oct ’53
· The Untimely Toper [Gavagan’s Bar] · L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt · ss F&SF Jul ’53
· Some Facts About Robots I · Leonard Wolf · pm F&SF Nov ’53
· Vandy, Vandy [John] · Manly Wade Wellman · ss F&SF Mar ’53
· Experiment · Kay Rogers · vi F&SF Feb ’53
· Lot [David Jimmon] · Ward Moore · nv F&SF May ’53
· Manuscript Found in a Vacuum · P. M. Hubbard · ss Punch Dec ’52; F&SF Aug ’53
· The Escapist · E. D. B. · pm F&SF Feb ’53
· The Maladjusted Classroom [C.P. Ransom] · H. Nearing, Jr. · ss F&SF Jun ’53
· Child by Chronos · Charles L. Harness · ss F&SF Jun ’53
· The Antiquary · Winona McClintic · pm F&SF Jul ’53
· New Ritual · Idris Seabright · ss F&SF Jan ’53
· Devlin · W. B. Ready · ss F&SF Apr ’53
· Two Voices · Winona McClintic · pm F&SF Jun ’53
· Captive Audience · Ann Warren Griffith · ss F&SF Aug ’53
· Snulbug · Anthony Boucher · ss Unknown Dec ’41; F&SF May ’53
· Shepherd’s Boy · Richard Middleton · vi The Ghost Ship, Unwin, 1912; F&SF Mar ’53
· The Unquiet Grave · Winona McClintic · pm F&SF Aug ’53
· Star Light, Star Bright · Alfred Bester · ss F&SF Jul ’53
· His Master’s Voice · Winona McClintic · pm F&SF Jun ’53
Link to source for ToC.