First published in 1986 by editors Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. This Genre Anthology contains nineteen Science Fiction stories that were first published in 1952, ranging in length from Short Story to Novelette. The introduction describes "the world outside reality" first, marking significant historical events, sports trivia, and literary publications. The "real world" is the science fiction and fantasy pop culture, the Diamond Age of Science Fiction.
Works in this anthology:
- "The Pedestrian", by Ray Bradbury
- "The Moon Is Green", by Fritz Leiber
- "Lost Memory", by Peter Phillips
- "What Have I Done?", by Mark Clifton
- "Fast Falls The Eventide", by Eric Frank Russell
- "The Business As Usual", by Mack Reynolds
- "A Sound of Thunder", by Ray Bradbury
- "Hobsons Choice", by Alfred Bester
- "Yesterday House", by Fritz Leiber
- "The Snowball Effect", by Katherine Mac Lean
- "Delay In Transit", by FL Wallace
- "Game For Blondes", by John D Mac Donald
- "The Altar At Midnight", by Cyril M. Kornbluth
- "Command Performance", by Walter M Miller Jr.
- "The Martian Way", by Isaac Asimov
- "The Impacted Man", by Robert Sheckley
- "Whats It Like Out There?", by Edmond Hamilton
- "Sail On! Sail On!", by Philip José Farmer
- "Cost Of Living", by Robert Sheckley
Isaac Asimov Presents: The Great Science Fiction Stories, Volume 14 (1952) provides examples of:
- Biography: Each story is prefaced by a short description of why this story (from this author) was chosen to represent one of the nineteen best stories of the year along with a paragraph from Isaac Asimov's perspective.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Alfred Bester's "Hobsons Choice": The main character lives in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. He believes he lives in the worst time ever and dreams of escaping to the past. He discovers time travelers appearing from a small town and finds out that they are being sent there as a form of therapy because they believe that his time period is a Golden Age. The time travel technicians point out to him that in real life it would be nearly impossible for anyone to adapt adequately to live in a past time period. The time travelers are being sent back as a form of therapy to get them to readjust to life in their present, and most soon come back after finding they can't live in that time period. It is also pointed out that there is probably no point in time that someone, somewhere, and somewhen doesn't think is a golden age
- Fantastic Science: Walter M Miller Jr's "Command Performance": Kenneth Grearly calls themselves a psychophysicist, someone who studies the physics of things like Telepathy. They chose that field of study because they have the ability to share feelings and thoughts with other people.
- Flat World: Philip José Farmer's "Sail On! Sail On!": A grimly amusing Alternate History story of how Christopher Columbus discovered that the world is flat.
- Master of Illusion: Walter M Miller Jr's "Command Performance": Kenneth Grearly has practiced his telepathy enough to conjure false images into another person's mind. He tries to control Lisa Waverly with this until she turns it around, making him believe in phantom cars, causing him to leap into the path of a real car.
- Mutants: Walter M Miller Jr's "Command Performance": Kenneth and Lisa are humans who have developed telepathy, and Kenneth points out in a dream sending that they are probably the result of a similar mutation.
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Walter M Miller Jr's "Command Performance": Kenneth Grearly sends her his vision of her appearance while placing one hand to his temple.
- Shout-Out: In the introduction, multiple works are mentioned as being first published or becoming hits in 1952:
- "Baby Is Three", by Theodore Sturgeon, would've been included in this collection if there had been room.
- Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla
- "Bring the Jubilee", by Ward Moore, would've been included in this collection if there had been room.
- Mel Brooks is singled out as (probably) still using the name Melvin Kaminsky.
- Captive Women
- City, by Clifford Simak
- The Currents Of Space, by Isaac Asimov
- The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester
- East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
- Fantastic was launched as a complement to Amazing Stories.
- Fantastic Science Ficiton was launched and collapsed this year.
- Giant, by Edna Ferber
- The Greatest Show on Earth
- "The Green Night", painted by Marc Chagall
- High Noon, starring Gary Cooper
- If began under the oversight of editor Paul Fairman
- Invasion USA
- The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
- "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"
- Jack Of Eagles, by James Blish
- "Jambalaya"
- The Legion Of Time, by Jack Williamson
- Limbo, by Bernard Wolfe
- Limelight
- Madonna And Child, sculpted by Jacob Epstein
- The Man in the White Suit, starring Alec Guinness
- Marvel Science Fiction stopped publishing this year.
- Monkey Business (1952)
- Murder In Millennium VI, by Curme Gray
- Nebula Science Fiction was launched in Great Britain.
- The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
- Othello
- Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Red Planet Mars
- Science Fiction Adventures launched, with Lester del Rey as head editor.
- The Silver Chalice, by Thomas B Costain
- The Space Merchants, serialized under Gravy Planet and written by Cyril M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
- Space Science Fiction launched, with Lester del Rey as head editor.
- Space Stories
- The Sound Of His Horn, by Sarban
- "Surface Tension", by James Blish, would've been included in this collection if there had been room.
- This is Cinerama
- Waiting For Godot, by Samuel Beckett
- "Wheel Of Fortune"
- "Your Cheating Heart"
- You Shall Know Them, by Vecors
- Future Science Fiction authors Douglas Adams and Lisa Tuttle were born.
- Telepathy: Walter M Miller Jr's "Command Performance": Lisa and Kenneth meet by virtue of being able to inadvertently send thoughts and ideas by being in the same area.