The richness and invention of these stories stands out sharply from much of the SF of the late 1960s and early 70s. I appreciate them though I don't really enjoy them. Reading them half a century after they were written in like being immersed in hot house loam and constantly confronting the roots of less articulate growths that have colonized the soil. ( )

I never read Tiptree much back in the day (these were published 1968-1974), and was somewhat disappointed at how much the then-acclaimed stories have aged; however, what is ground-breaking in one era is common-place in another. They still exhibit a great deal of imagination, and of course social satire, but follow the times by including mildly salacious material that make some of them unsuitable for younger teens.
I favored "The Girl Who was Plugged In" and "The Women Men Don't See" which are both nascent feminist approaches. Tiptree uses in two stories the "drinking raconteur" device that also shows up in a cartoon of the Sixties "The World of Commander McBragg" but is much older than that, being a staple framing device of 19th-century imaginative and horror fiction.

Robert Silverberg's introduction reveals that no one in the sf world at that time (1975) knew Tiptree was a pseudonymous woman.
Wikipedia: Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. She was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently "male" or "female"—it was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree, Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1977 she also used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. .. After the death of Mary Hastings Bradley (her mother) in 1976, "Tiptree" mentioned in a letter that "his" mother, also a writer, had died in Chicago—details that led inquiring fans to find the obituary, with its reference to Alice Sheldon; soon all was revealed. Several prominent science fiction writers suffered some embarrassment. Robert Silverberg had written an introduction to Warm Worlds and Otherwise arguing, from the evidence of stories in that collection, that Tiptree could not possibly be a woman. Harlan Ellison had introduced Tiptree's story in the anthology Again, Dangerous Visions with the opinion that "[Kate] Wilhelm is the woman to beat this year, but Tiptree is the man." Silverberg's article in particular, by taking one side, makes it clear that the sex of Tiptree was a topic of some debate. ( )

An interesting, early (her 2nd published book) collection of stories from Tiptree (pseudonym of Alice Sheldon).

At the time of publication, Tiptree's real identity was unknown. There must have been some speculation that Tiptree might be female. In his introduction, Robert Silverberg opines that Tiptree's stories must have been written by a male. (In his view, Austen's novels could only have been written by a female, and Hemingway's work could only have been written by a male; in the same way, Tiptree must be a male.)

After reading these, I had the opposite opinion of Silverberg; to me, they were obviously written by a woman. Of course, I knew going in that Tiptree was female, so I'm unsure how much that shaped my opinion.

I don't know if Tiptree was considered to be a member of the New Wave of SF, but these stories all had a very New Wave feel to me. While the quality varies, I would say these are all at least good, and some excellent. None felt dated to me. (I only make this point because I read this right after finishing a collection from Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore; that collection had a few stories that felt dated, and the quality was very uneven.)

I'm sure I probably read something from Tiptree when I was younger, but I have no memory of it. I think this is a great starting point and it makes me want to read more of her work. ( )

Indeholder "Robert Silverberg: Who Is Tiptree, What Is He?", "All the Kinds of Yes", "The Milk of Paradise", "And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways", "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain", "Amberjack", "Through a Lass Darkly", "The Girl Who Was Plugged In", "The Night-blooming Saurian", "The Women Men Don't See", "Fault", "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death", "On the Last Afternoon".

"Robert Silverberg: Who Is Tiptree, What Is He?" er Silverbergs forsøg på at analysere sig frem til at pseudonymet James Tiptree Jr. selvfølgelig er en mand. Morsomt nok viste det sig kort tid efter offentliggørelsen af forordet at James Tiptree Jr. dækkede over Dr. Alice Raccoona Sheldon.
"All the Kinds of Yes" handler om en alien, der kommer til Jorden og møder Filomena og Barlow og bliver gravid.
"The Milk of Paradise" handler om ???
"And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways" handler om ???
"The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" er en skræmmende beretning om Dr. Ain der fortæller en forsamling af mikrobiologer om den pest, han har udviklet. Den spredes af alle varmblodede dyr, men dræber stort set kun de højere primater. På flyveturen til kongressen har han flittigt brugt sin lille inhalatorspray og fodret fugle med brødkrummer han har med. Fugle er jo varmblodede, som han fortæller sikkerhedsfolkene, da de arresterer ham. For at redde Jorden har han dømt menneskene til undergang.
"Amberjack" handler om kærlighed mellem pigen Rue og et uheldigt anfald af fremsynethed.
"Through a Lass Darkly" handler om ???
"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" handler om ???
"The Night-blooming Saurian" handler om ???
"The Women Men Don't See" handler om et flystyrt, hvor Mrs Persson og hendes datter sammen med en Maya-indianer og en anden mand slipper relativt uskadt fra. De er imidlertid strandet på ubestemt tid, men Mrs Persson og datteren tager et lift på ubestemt tid med et hold aliens, de støder på.
"Fault" handler om en mand, der lemlæster en alien og bliver straffet af dem ved at blive skubbet til, så han tidsmæssigt kommer mere og mere bagud i forhold til resten af verden. Ret grusom straf, men hans handling var også grusom.
"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" handler om Moggadeet og Leelyloo, der elsker hinanden, hvilket er helt efter planen.
"On the Last Afternoon" handler om en koloni der er i stor fare og måske kan reddes af en noion. Den giver tre ønsker, men de må ikke være andet end helt sikkert ment.

??? ( )

A notable collection of stories from Tiptree, including 'The women men don't see'. But this book is mainly notable for the introduction by Robert Silverberg, where he categorically and definitively states that the reclusive James Tiptree Jnr. is, despite rumours to the contrary, a man. "...(There is, for me, something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writing" he says. Within a few weeks, Tiptree was identified as a pen-name of Alice Raccoona Sheldon. Though to be fair, the second printing (which I possess) does include a postscript from Silverberg to say "Well, how wrong can you be? And doesn't it just go to show?" ( )