This collection of longer short stories and novellas was my introduction to the work of Blumlein. Like all collections, some stories were better than others. I was surprised by the humor in the stories. My favorite in the volume was the first story, California Burning. The tone of this story seemed quite different than the following pieces. California Burning is a hilarious look at a man who finds himself dealing with the fact that his recently deceased father was not who he thought he was. Along with the humor, this story had a classic sci-fi feel that wasn’t present in most of the following stories.
Most of the other stories were solid, but I found them less entertaining. One common theme that ran through most was the troubled relationships between men and women. Blumlein writes incredibly strong female characters which is refreshing.
Overall, I would recommend this collection to those who enjoy absurd situations. While the stories were hit and miss for me, I enjoyed the better ones enough that I was glad for the Blumlein introduction.