City

1952 Simak, Clifford D[onald] (1904-88). City. New York: Gnome Press. Rpt. New York: Ace Books, [1958]; rpt. New York: Ace Books, [1967]. Stories originally published in Astounding Science-Fiction as “City.” 33.3 (May 1944): 136-57. U.K. ed. Astounding Science-Fiction (August 1944): 43-55; Rpt. in The Ghost of a Model T and Other Stories: The Complete Short Stories of Clifford D. Simak Volume Three. New York: Open Road, 2015. EBook; “Huddling Place” 33.5 (July 1944): 133-49; “Census” 34.1 (September 1944): 6-28; “Desertion” 34.3 (November 1944): 64-74; “Paradise” 37.4 (June 1946): 46-65; “Hobbies” 38.3 (November 1946): 49-77; and “Aesop” 40.4 (December 1947): 7-31; plus “The Simple Way” originally published as “The Trouble with Ants.” Fantastic Adventures 13.1 (January 1951): 48-63; rpt. Fantastic 15.6 (July 1966): 46-65. The book version includes notes on each of the eight tales. Later Simak wrote an additional story in the City series, “Epilog.” Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology. Ed. Harry Harrison (New York: Random House. 1973), 259-74. Merril, PSt

Pastoral, pacifist dogs pass down oral legends of a possibly mythical Man. In these legends, technology has ended city life and almost everyone has moved to the country. Cities become tourist attractions but not places to live.