Some of these tales have been anthologized time and again, but all are worth reading.  Some are twisty fables akin to episodes of Twilight Zone, others are extended jokes, and a few are prescient nightmares.  Time travel in various forms is on the table, as are encounters with beings that resemble the devil.  A moral that occurs several times is a self-referential admonition that the reader bear in mind that the kind of escapism to be found in adventure stories is to be reserved for casual reading and is not a valid strategy for life, even if one could have his wishes granted.  Characterization, especially of females, poor.  World-building adequate.  Plots adequate.  Ideas marvelous. ( )

Indeholder "Disappearing Act", "Adam and No Eve", "Star Light, Star Bright", "The Roller Coaster", "Oddy and Id", "The Starcomber", "Travel Diary", "Fondly Fahrenheit", "Hobson's Choice", "The Die-Hard", "Of Time and Third Avenue".

"Disappearing Act" handler om en krig i 2112, hvor nogle udvikler evnen til tidsrejser, bare for at slippe væk.
"Adam and No Eve" handler om jordens undergang forårsaget af Stephen Krane med et rumskib drevet af en ny katalysator, der kan opløse jern. Udstødningen spreder katalysatoren og han vender tilbage til en død verden af aske. Han slæber sig ud til havet og plumper i med den forudanelse at mikroorganismerne i hans lig vil genføde verden. Og forresten viser scenen sig at være Jorden for mange hundrede millioner år siden.
"Star Light, Star Bright" handler om en 10-års knægt Stuart Buchanan, der er et geni til at ønske ting. Det går hårdt ud over folk, der forsøger at komme ind på livet af ham.
"The Roller Coaster" handler om ???
"Oddy and Id" handler om ???
"The Starcomber" handler om ???
"Travel Diary" handler om ???
"Fondly Fahrenheit" handler om ???
"Hobson's Choice" handler om ???
"The Die-Hard" handler om ???
"Of Time and Third Avenue" handler om ???

Udmærkede små noveller. ( )

You'd be better off with another Bester collection though this has many good stories.

I'll mention stories not found in Bester's Starlight collection.

“The Roller Coaster” -- This creepy story reminds me of another story of time travelers from the future getting their violent kicks on hapless victims in our era: John Kessel’s “The Pure Product”. Bester, as usual, is a groundbreaker, and this is another of his novel uses for time travel in sf. Here people from the future provoke people into committing violence against them. The thrill of being attacked is sought for the same reason we seek the fear inherent in the roller coaster, hence the title.

“Travel Diary” -- This is a fluffy, slightly humorous piece (more vignette than story) about a Grand Tour in space. Nothing special here. ( )

The review copy is the Second Printing of the Signet D-2672 copy of about 1958 or so. The book contains Disappearing Act, Adam and No Eve, Star Light, Star Bright, The Roller Coaster, Oddy and Id ("The Devil's Invention"), The Starcomber ("5,271,009"), Travel Diary, Fondly Fahrenheit, Hobson's Choice, The Die-Hard, and Of Time and Third Avenue. Travel Diary and The Die-Hard appear to be new for the book. Adam and No Eve is from 1941 and the remaining stories come from the 1950 to 1954.

It was fun to read these again. I can't really remember when I first read the stories but I know I read some of them in the original magazine publication. For the most part they were as much fun this time as they were then. Take Disappearing Act for example - it takes place in an army ward during "the war for the American Dream". Patients in Ward T are disappearing and finding their own solution to the American Dream. I didn't remember the ending and it came as something between a surprise and a "oh yeah! What else could you expect". I did remember the endings of several of the other stories, but it was still fun to see Mr. Bester's choice of dialogue associated with the ideas in the stories. Each story is its own vignette of an idea. Some are interesting ideas - I particularly like Disappearing Act, Fondly Fahrenheit (who is really crazy, the android or the human who "owns him"), the simple little travelogue of Travel Diary, and the quid pro quo for giving up a 1990's Almanac in the year 1950 in Of Time and Third Avenue. And some are so-so - There were really none I disliked but Adam and No Eve (a last man on earth story) drug a little before reaching the conclusion and Oddy and ID (the super monster who doesn't know he is a monster) isn't really my kind of story. In general a pretty good collection of short stories but nothing really outstanding. If you like short stories and especially if you liked any of Bester's other work, these are all worth reading (some even several times). ( )