Buy Jupiter and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov (1975)

Posted on 2024-08-01 by thelittleman

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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I’m back in love with short stories. I’ve never really fallen out of love with them, of course, but too many other books have taken their place. There’s only so much time to read.

With my habit of finding odd times throughout the day for a quick 10-minute break, though, short-story collections are the perfect solution for an overworked brain. And Asimov is a constant favorite.

Isaac Asimov was a prolific writer—more than I knew, until I started counting his nonfiction works as well! He’s better known today for his novels (like the Foundation series which I have yet to read), though throughout his career he also contributed hundreds of short stories and essays to all sorts of magazines, mostly Sci-fi. For this reason, his “collections” are voluminous and can be hard to track. Thankfully, I was able to gather all his legitimate titles on my Short Stories by Isaac Asimov page, so check it out!

I’ve only recently begun reading his story collections, so it’s a bit surprising to see him meld his fiction with commentary in this book. Usually, his comments are about the stories themselves (or the editors and publishers behind them), though he also often fit in personal comments about his life situation at the time of writing which serve as snippets of unofficial autobiography. It’s really quite fascinating, although at times his comments before the story distract from the story itself.

This fiction/nonfiction mix is nothing new for Asimov, as he apparently did this for a number of his collections. His later book Gold does the same, though that book is split down the middle, short stores in one half and essays about Science Fiction in the other.

One of his statements that made me laugh was this about anthologies:

Nowadays it is quite fashionable to publish anthologies of original science fiction stories, and I rather disapprove of this. It drains off some of the stories and readers that might otherwise go to the magazines. I don’t want that to happen. I think that magazines are essential to science fiction.

Of course, the humor came from my misunderstanding: Isaac Asimov is one of the most anthologized authors I’ve ever read, so how could he argue against publishing anthologies!? But his point is that an author’s stories must run through the process of editing and publication through the mainstream of magazines first–and must therefore be proven, quality work—before enjoying a longer life in book form. These comments may be outdated, as society has moved further and further away from paper magazines, but I think this philosophy can find root in the online publishing game as well. In some form or another.

Story-by-Story Synopsis/Review

The following are the 24 story titles from this book, alongside my own reading notes and comments—sans spoilers, as best I’m able.

  1. “Darwinian Pool Room” (1950) – This is a story of scientists sitting around the break room discussing the possibilities of creation—in terms of a pool table. You arrive at the pool room and see all balls save the cue ball in the pockets and can only surmise about how the game had been played. That’s what we do with the evidence of the universe. The balls could have been placed there by hand, or they could have been shot in a certain way—and these are the conundrums with which we battle when considering the beginnings of life and the universe. No one was there to witness it! I’d argue that this analogy ignores the fact that the balls, the table, the room, and the observer are all part of the equation too, which brings God into the mix. Asimov (a lifelong Atheist, if my research hasn’t failed me) has his characters wonder only about the balls in the pockets (i.e. life). But what’s the story behind everything else that makes the balls even matter? You might also ask a question we’ve all heard lately (post-Butler, PA) but in billiards terms: “Who’s the shooter?”
  2. “Day of the Hunters” (1950) – This story offers a fantastic setting with an interesting concept, an enthralling lead-in, but a silly payoff and a horrible ending. I guess it has it all! He admits as much himself in his commentary.
  3. “Shah Guido G.” (1951) – This story introduced me to a genre of humor I’d never heard of—and I’m pretty well-read! The “shaggy dog story” is an intentionally long and pointless story that builds an audience’s anticipation for a great payoff only to end in a letdown. If I didn’t know better, Id’ say it sounds more like the attempts of a really bad writer than intentional humor, but Mark Twain would disagree with me. Apparently, it’s an intentional tool used to string readers on and is therefore a sign of a good writer. I honestly hated a few of Asimov’s stories from his book Gold because of this, but perhaps his attempts at “humor” were intentional and the “letdown” was his actual goal. — In other news, this genre also gives me hope that perhaps my horrible joke-telling ability is actually the sign of genius!
  4. “Button, Button” (1952) – Asimov tried his hand at humor in other ways too, and this story and the next were apparently his own personal favorites. The humor isn’t so much in the climax as it is in the telling, so this one was actually quite enjoyable. Gotta love Uncle Otto!
  5. “The Monkey’s Finger” (1952) – Another humorous tale with a solid ending. This one is based off an actual event, at least slightly. I like the stories about writing, so this one landed well with me.
  6. “Everest” (1953) – I liked this story too. Short and sweet yet imaginative, if not a bit flawed in its facts. The final thought on page 63 in his editorial is the funniest thing I’ve read in the book so far. I’ll not quote it here, because you’ve got to read it for yourself.
  7. “Pause” (1954) – A new Twist on an old idea, that the entire world has gone crazy, and you are the only sane one who knows it.
  8. “Let’s Not” (1954) – A survivor’s tale with a slightly twisted ending.
  9. “Each an Explorer” (1956) – This one felt the most sci-fi of the book, explorers doing what explorers do, checking out a few habitable planets. I liked this one a lot.
  10. “Blank!” (1957) – Loved the idea behind it, giving three authors an innocuous title and let them have at it. Blank is as good as any such title, and I think Asimov did pretty well.
  11. “Does a Bee Care?” (1957) – while I like reading his commentaries, I don’t like hearing that a story was rejected so many times. It brings a pall to it. He should have let me read it and THEN tell me it was rejected! I loved this story of an immortal creature using earth as a host for its eggs, so that the larva could mature over the course of 8000 years to finally flee its nest and return home to spawn. It’s a delightful “what if” story based on true nature!
  12. “Silly Asses” (1957) – Asimov needed a different title to this very short spot. You can’t title your joke with the punchline of the joke! No wonder he’s not known as a humorist. It’s good, but it’s a letdown for that very reason.
  13. “Buy Jupiter” (1958) – A very involved short story. It’s actually the definition of a great short story: one that in just a few sentences, introduces a unique race, galaxy, problem, and characters that we readers instantly buy into. It makes me think that some humor commercials (like those from Geico) occasionally go the same route as what we see here. This story is right in line with that kind of humor.
  14. “A Statue for Father” (1958) – This was a wonderful story with a solid ending. I haven’t anticipated Asimov being humorous, though I’ve come to expect him to be clever in a quirky sort of way. Stories like this might not have the same punch the second time around, but I enjoyed my first taste of it.
  15. “Rain, Rain, Go Away” (1959) – A mystery story about neighbors who keep to themselves. I liked his brief editorial comment that he oughtn’t have dated his story by naming a baseball player on the TV. It’s one sign of bad writing.
  16. “Founding Father” (1965) – A more involved story somewhat reminiscent (to me) of The Martian by Andy Weir. Asimov reluctantly based his story off a painting one editor showed him, and that reminds me of that great inspiration for stories…merely an image search online or (better yet) a single song. What emotions and images do these things conjure up in a writer’s imagination, and what story might drop out of thin air because of it? Kind of exciting to ponder! [You can see my own attempt at such short-story writing here.]
  17. “Exile to Hell” (1968) – I’m not going to give away the climax of the story, yet I feel that’s sort of what Asimov does in his commentaries here, even though he schools the editor who published their report for doing the very same thing! I’m getting a sense that Isaac Asimov wasn’t all that self-aware, no matter how prolific or scientific he was!
  18. “Key Item” (1968) – I think by now I’m not simply enjoying Asimov, I’m thinking like him. I’m not one to think too far ahead in stories, but I guessed the punchline in this one fairly early. Perhaps it’s because I’ve learned the same with Siri!
  19. “The Proper Study” (1968) – Another short story based off a painting that an editor showed him and another writer, this one is all about reading people’s minds, but in a groovy, 1960s sort of way. This process of writing stories based off of weird pictures makes me think that there are just billions and billions of possibilities out there, what with artistic images you can find on Instagram or (as I mentioned above) tunes or lyrics to songs. Short-story writing is possible for anyone, though it takes a real artist like Asimov to become a writer worth reading.
  20. “2430 AD” (1970) – This story of a dangerous uniformity when humanity depends on computers making all creativity moot doesn’t seem too far off the realm of possibility, though 15 trillion humans on Earth seems a bit high. I loved the descriptive line, “The exquisite nothingness of uniformity.”
  21. “The Greatest Asset” (1971) – Another take on the previous story, though with a happier ending. I think I preferred the first.
  22. “Take a Match” (1972) – The longest story in the collection is intricate in its technical details of a ship lost in a space cloud, and it leaves nothing to the imagination. Well, apart from the final lines that about a man in his leering over a woman 40 years younger than him. “The Cringy ’60s” applies both to the decade and the age group, I guess.
  23. “Thiotimoline to the Stars” (1973) – I’ve never read Asimov’s (or anyone else’s) stories about Thiotimoline before, so the concept was new to me. I’m surprised I tracked it so well, this molecule that can split time and therefore allow for space travel in months as opposed to months and light-years. The setting of this story is a graduation speech in which the Admiral explains to the students this molecule that will separate the pilots from the everyday space worker. Its ending comes with a twist, so I enjoyed this one a lot…despite its fictitious jargon.
  24. “Light Verse” (1973) – He describes this final story as one he wrote, edited, and mailed to the Saturday Evening Post in two-and-a-half hours. That’s about my experience as a writer too—just sit down and write to see where the story takes you—so it’s good to know that even Asimov did this from time to time, without much forethought, allowing the story to write itself. There’s hope for me yet.

Well, there’s the full list of short stories in the wonderfully entertaining collection. Novels have their place, but short stories keep me entertained. Can’t wait to read my from some of my favorite authors!

©2024 E.T.

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