The Shape of Things (anthology)

The Shape of Things is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Damon Knight. It was first published in paperback by Popular Library in 1965.

The book collects eleven short stories and novelettes by various science fiction authors, together with an introduction by the editor. The stories were previously published from 1944-1952 in various science fiction and other magazines.

Contents

• "Introduction" (Damon Knight)
• "Don't Look Now" (1948) (Henry Kuttner)
• "The Box" (1949) (James Blish)
• "The New Reality" (1950) (Charles L. Harness)
• "The Eternal Now" (1944) (Murray Leinster)
• "The Sky Was Full of Ships" (1947) (Theodore Sturgeon)
• "The Shape of Things" (1948) (Ray Bradbury)
• "The Only Thing We Learn" (1949) (C. M. Kornbluth)
• "The Hibited Man" (1949) (L. Sprague de Camp)
• "Dormant" (1948) (A. E. van Vogt)
• "The Ambassadors" (1952) (Anthony Boucher)
• "A Child Is Crying" (1948) (John D. MacDonald)

Reception

Jeffery A. Beaudry, reviewing the anthology in The Washington Post, characterized its general content as "stories from the late '40s and early '50s ... pulpy and populated by mad scientists, good-guy scientists and helpless young 'girls,' but ... great fun."

Notes

1. The Second Coming (poem)
2. Concrete poetry
3. Gideon Adlon
4. The Yardbirds discography
5. Diana Wynne Jones bibliography
6. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
7. Halloween (franchise)
8. Neil LaBute
9. The Willows (story)
10. Steve Vai
11. Interspecies Reviewers
12. List of Creepshow (TV series) episodes
13. List of Monsters episodes
14. Storyteller – The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990
15. Jew's harp
16. The Thing (1982 film)
17. Swarm (TV series)
18. List of Toon In with Me episodes
19. Shel Silverstein
20. This Arab Is Queer