One Side Laughing — Damon Knight

One of science fiction's preeminent writers for more than forty years, Damon Knight has always been considered a master of the short story. Deemed a brilliant craftsman who can handle any story form with crisp finesse by Alfred Bester, and considered one of the very finest short-story writers ever to work in the genre by Gardner Dozois, Damon Knight has authored classics such as To Serve Man, Four in One, Stranger Station, and The Big Pat Boom.In these seventeen tales, ranging from visions of the infinite to perceptions of the pedestrian, Damon Knight remains relentlessly at the top of his form. His vorpal wit glitters in The Time Exchange, while La Ronde glows with polished beauty; the utopian insight of I See You is as sharp as the jagged pain of Each Prisoner Pent. The Very Objectionable Mr. Clegg turns things on their heads, while Strangers on Paradise depicts a world set right--perhaps too right. Throughout these stories runs a deep commitment best called art.Frequently reprehensible, consistently unclassifiable, elegantly beautiful, and entirely enjoyable, One Side Laughing is a collection of vintage Damon Knight. As powerful as they are pleasurable, these tales are treasures to be read, and read, and read again. Forever.Praise for Damon Knight[Damon Knight] has not only a scintillating imagination but also the mastery of words necessary to describe his visions beautifully.--James MichenerDamon Knight's own writing has always been a showcase for the best of New Wave ideals. He knows English; he thinks through implications; but his characters live and breathe, and any of the stories in this book may shake your notion of what shape a story may have.--Larry NivenThe fiction of Damon Knight...has that unpretentious ease and rightness which a reviewer calls, for lack of a more analytical term, readability. Though it deals always with ideas and often with technologies, it is miraculously clear even to the reader who has never before encountered science fiction. Knight is surely one of the most civilized of science-fiction writers.--Anthony BoucherKnight is a man of stature and quality, a writer of importance, and a writer whose works will be a new and perhaps jarring experience for many people.--Barry N. Malzberg