Computers, Computers, Computers: In Fiction and in Verse

by D.L. Van Tassel (Editor)

Book by

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 18 titles from various authors feature computers in a major way in the plot of each story. This is a good mix of serious, frightening, and funny plots to get the reader thinking about the role of the computer in the future. The editor has included a clever computer-related limerick at the beginning of each titel. The editor includes a brief bio on each author, helping to aid in the reader's understanding of the author's motivation or time in which the story was written. Some poetry and even song lyrics are included. Good collection of stories on this topic.

[Durandana · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 - Answer, by Fredric Brown
2/5 - The Perfect Crime, by Richard T. Sandberg
2/5 - Put Your Brains in Your Pocket, by Arthur W. Hoppe
2/5 - Fool's Mate, by Robert T. Sheckley
2/5 - Pooling Information With a Computer, by Art Buchwald
2/5 - Space to Move, by Joseph Green
2/5 - Computers Don't Argue, by Gordon R. Dickson
3/5 - That Dinkum Thinkum, by Robert A. Heinlein
2/5 - ARTHUR's Night Out, by Laurence Lerner
2/5 - 2066: Election Day, by Michael Shaara
1/5 - From an Ecclesiastical Chronicle, by John Heath-Stubbs
2/5 - Answer 'Affirmative' or 'Negative', by Barbara Paul
1/5 - The Metric Plot, by Jim Haynes
2/5 - Push the Magic Button, by Renn Zaphiropoulos
4/5 - When the Computer Went Out to Launch, by Art Buchwald
2/5 - Criminal in Utopia, by Mack Reynolds
2/5 - The Union Forever, by Barry N. Malzberg
1/5 - The Day the Computers Got Waldon Ashenfelter, by Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this gem in my HS library. We were going to put it in the weed pile, when I started thumbing through it. Once I began reading the verse and short stories, I was hooked. It will be remaining in the library. I was surprised at the insight of those who authored the passages. They certainly had the forethought to look into the future and see how technology would and could affect us. Very good read!

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times amusing, frightening, and enlightening. This book of short stories and prose, written before I was born, is prophetic, which we recognize with hindsight.