The Best Laid Schemes
Cover of first edition | |
| Author | Larry Eisenberg |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jack H. Breslow |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Collier Books |
Publication date | 1973 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 191 |
The Best Laid Schemes is an anthology of science fiction short stories by American writer Larry Eisenberg. It was published in 1973 by Collier Books.
Eisenberg's first and only science fiction book, it compiles twenty-one short stories, many of which follow the fictional biochemist Emmet Duckworth, a character compared to Homer Nearing's C. P. Ransom.[1] One story, "What Happened to Auguste Clarot?", was originally published in Harlan Ellison's anthology Dangerous Visions[2] while additional works were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, If, Venture Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, and other magazines.
The anthology's short story "Too Many Cooks" was adapted into an episode of the British science fiction series Out of the Unknown.[3]
John F. Carr called the stories in the collection humorous and "possibly what Robots Have No Tails would have been written two decades later in an academic setting."[4]
References
- ^ Currey, L.W. "Eisenberg, Larry. THE BEST LAID SCHEMES". lwcurrey.com. L. W. Currey, Inc. Archived from the original on 2025-06-13. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- ^ "For the first time anywhere—33 great new stories by all the science fiction masters of our time". Galaxy Science Fiction (advertisement). December 1967. p. 3.
- ^ "Eisenberg, Larry". sf-encyclopedia.com. John Clute & David Langford. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- ^ "MIT Science Fiction Society Reviews" by John F. Carr, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accessed 11/18/2025.