Looking for a Book

[WizardofOwls]

Need some help looking for a book...

Years ago (I'm thinking around the late 70s, early 80s), I was reading a book. It was basically a short story anthology dealing with close encounters with aliens/ UFOs. I'm thinking that it was basically cashing in on the craze inspired by Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

For whatever reason at the time, I decided to trade it in at a book trader's used book store for something else. But now I really want to read it again.

I've been trying hard to find it again, but so far I've had no success. Anyone have any suggestions?

TIA for any help you can offer!

 

[nixie]

Sorry can't help with the book but I'll move it to book search for more views.

 

[CassFrank]

Couple potential options:

Publication: Encounters

www.isfdb.org

Publication: Alien Encounters

www.isfdb.org

 

[Orcadian]

Can you provide a few details of particular stories?

 

[Ravensquawk]

Can you provide a few details of particular stories?

A few from memory in Asimov's Encounters. (The other book is unfamiliar.)

Damon Knight's "Cabin Boy":
An electromagnetic ovoid cabin boy always gets in big trouble with the skipper of the space ship. He helps two humans escape from being stuck to his own ship, although the rest of the crew would use them and their rocket for raw materials.
Third person but from his point of view. He refers to the humans as "five-pointed creatures".
The funniest part: When the humans are freed and reunited, he has to turn away in disgust, because [paraphrase] "they wrapped their upper points around each other in nauseating fashion".

I remember my sister and I laughing about that part of the story when we were teenagers.

Hal Clement's "Proof"
The Solarian and the Sirian, plasma natives of Sol and Sirius, argue whether cold non-plasma matter could possibly exist. One tells the tale of witnessing a ship and its crew die as it lost heat for no apparent reason. All their scientists know that cold matter in molecular form doesn't exist, so it can't possibly be that!

Simak's "A Death in the House":
One of Simak's characteristic good-hearted farmers rescues an alien from a nearby strange crash. It is like a tall stalk with a head like a sunflower face. He can't save its life, but plants a globe, out of which a new alien grows. He gives up all his silver, mostly dollars, to help the alien build a ship and attempt to get back home.

I would add "Invasion" edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh .

Everyone should read "What Have I Done?" by insightful personnel director Mark Clifton.

And would enjoy "The Liberation of Earth" by Philip Klass as William Tenn. "Suck air, grab clusters."

 

[Orcadian]

Not sure I undertand, Raven.. I wanted to ask Wizard if they could recall any details of the stories in the anthology they are looking for.

 

[Ravensquawk]

Ah! Got that now. That would help narrow down the search and identify the sought anthology. Sounds like a good one; I'll be watching for it too.

 

[Ravensquawk]

Need some help looking for a book...

Years ago (I'm thinking around the late 70s, early 80s), I was reading a book. It was basically a short story anthology dealing with close encounters with aliens/ UFOs. I'm thinking that it was basically cashing in on the craze inspired by Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

For whatever reason at the time, I decided to trade it in at a book trader's used book store for something else. But now I really want to read it again.

I've been trying hard to find it again, but so far I've had no success. Anyone have any suggestions?

TIA for any help you can offer!

Hey there, like @Orcadian asked, a description of any specific memories from any of the specific stories might help identify which anthology it was.

Someone left a "Goodbye, Cruel World" post somewhere else on this site, and I don't remember for certain who it was. But March 25 is only a week ago, so hoping that you can get some answers by giving some answers!

 

[CrazyKB]

If you're talking about books that give an overview of the UFO phenomenon from that time period, one comes to mind called UFOs, The Greatest Mystery (Hilary Evans). I was able to find a picture of it which I'll post. However, a newer book on UFOs which I read about a year ago was Bad UFOs, By Robert Sheaffer, the book takes a skeptical approach on the subject (unlike most other books that repeat the same unskeptical narrative). The latter book can be found on Amazon ( I couldn't find a copy at any major bookstores in Canada).

It would be interesting to see other people's views on this topic, perhaps someone should open a thread on the subject.

 

[Ravensquawk]

Need some help looking for a book...

Years ago (I'm thinking around the late 70s, early 80s), I was reading a book. It was basically a short story anthology dealing with close encounters with aliens/ UFOs. I'm thinking that it was basically cashing in on the craze inspired by Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

For whatever reason at the time, I decided to trade it in at a book trader's used book store for something else. But now I really want to read it again.

I've been trying hard to find it again, but so far I've had no success. Anyone have any suggestions?

TIA for any help you can offer!

It's now been only one more week since one week since you asked the question and haven't said whether any of these come close, or whether you wanted science fiction (a fair assumption on this board), or nonfiction (abovementioned).

If you left a "Goodbye Cruel World" message, you could lurk and get these answers without logging in and we'll never know if you found it.

Anyway, I just stopped myself from posting a link of best alien encounter books because it had only novels, good ones, just not anthologies of short stories as requested.

But THIS list page has Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others, which has his "Story of Your Life" which was made into the film "Arrival", one of my favorite encounter stories EVER, among other greats like "Understand".

In case of link failure, the link is "15 Of The Best Alien Books: Invasion Stories, Encounters, And Beyond".