By the acclaim of his fellow science fiction writers, Sheckley was science fiction's foremost troublemaker. The humor and irony that permeate his short stories, novellas, and novels are so inimitable that just a few lines of text are enough to immediately recognize it as Sheckley. The author himself made no secret of his approach to literature: 'I've tried all my life not to be too serious. I don't consider myself a political thinker and try to convey everything to readers in a light, unobtrusive manner. Irony is my style. I didn't choose irony as the natural foundation of my thinking; it just happened that way. I think people are more interested in ridicule than in a lecture, an entertaining story than a long-winded discourse. If what I say remains misunderstood or not fully understood, if people simply read a funny story and relax, that's perfectly fine with me.' This edition features new translations of some of the stories and the novel 'Mind Swap.' Unlike previous editions, the novel's text is presented unabridged.