The wild, wooly world of Cordwainer Smith refuses to die and why should it? His stories, scattered like pearls amongst the genre magazines of his time, now come home to roost in one volume. If you don't know him, you probably won't buy this book but once you enter his world, nothing less will do. Go ahead and opt for a lesser volume of stories - the world is filled with great stuff we don't know about but I hope you don't pass Cordwainer by. You've missed a lot.