Alice Munro's "The Moons of Jupiter" (collection): Annotated table of contents & review

I think it's a non-genre collection, in spite of the title. Mostly excellent stuff, going by what little I've read.

Two stories - "Connection" & "The Stone in the Field" - are part of a series called "Chaddeleys & Flemings". While independent, they're best read in that order.

Where I have a separate post on a story, link on story title goes there.

Table of contents.

1. [novelette] "Connection" (A); Chatelaine, sometime in 1979: On how we protect our pride...
2. [novelette] "The Stone in the Field" (A); Saturday Night, sometime in 1979: Protecting yourself from a hostile world, by hiding in a shell...
3. "Dulse": Not read.
4. "The Turkey Season": Not read.
5. "Accident": Not read.
6. "Bardon Bus": Not read.
7. "Prue": Not read.
8. "Labor Day Dinner": Not read.
9. "Mrs Cross & Mrs Kidd": Not read.
10. "Hard-Luck Stories": Not read.
11. "Visitors": Not read.
12. [ss] "The Moons of Jupiter" (A); The New Yorker, 22 May 1978: A woman's relationship with her dad who's about to undergo heart surgery, & with her two grown up daughters.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1982.
Related: Stories of Alice Munro.

C J Cherryh's "The Pride Of Chanur" (novel, space opera): What if lions evolved into intelligence?

I won't call it a bad read, but I seem to no longer enjoy most space opera now-a-days. But this may be the first space opera I've seen that is almost entirely from aliens' point of view; humans play a very minor & junior role.

Story summary.

There is something called Compact - a region of space somewhere on the edge of human space. Many alien space traveling species live here, cooperating & fighting. One of the more villainous of them, "kif", had got hold of some human spacemen, whom they tortured to presumably get the coordinates of human homeworld. Three prisoners died, one escaped. The escaped one found sanctuary in a "hani" ship. Much of the story is the chase & fights across star systems to get hold of this human prisoner, sucking in other alien races in the fight too.

Hani look like intelligent lions. Through the story, I got an impression this was a feminist work because gender roles among Hani are reversed relative humans - females do outside work & earning, men keep homes. But a discussion at ClassicScienceFiction points out similarity of Hani culture with that of lions. In fact, the "Pride" of title might be a pun on pride of lions; "Chanur" is the hani clan to which the heroine, Pyanfar, belongs. Officially, "Pride of Chanur" is the name of the hani spaceship in the story.

Fact sheet.

First published: 1982.
Rating: B.
Nominated for Hugo Award 1983 in novel category.

Spider Robinson's "Melancholy Elephants" (short story, copyrights, free)

What if current copyright law that gives owners rights for a finite number of years were to be extended to them & their heirs in perpetuity?

Story argues that much human creativity is actually discovery rather than creation; in fact, it is often a rediscovery. As population rises, years pass, & a bigger percentage of population joins the creators category, rediscovery is going to be even more important. Perpetual copyright bans rediscovery, & is bad for the psychic health of individuals.

Fact sheet.

First published: Analog, June 1982.
Rating: A.
Download full text from author's site or from Baen Books.
Winner of Hugo Award 1983 in short story category.

J G Ballard's "The Autobiography of J.G.B." aka "The Secret Autobiography of J. G. B******" (short story, apocalypse, free)

It didn't really make sense to me, but well ... it's Ballard.

Story summary.

One fine morning, "B" woke up to strange quiet. Much of the story is of his discovery that the population of at least England & France (& perhaps the world) has mysteriously vanished without a trace (save himself)!

Fact sheet.

First published: First published: "in French in Etoile Mecanique, July 1981-March 1982" (under what title?) First English appearance in "Ambit, #96, Spring 1984".
This post is based on the English reprint that appeared online in The New Yorker, 11 May 2009, under the title "The Autobiography of J.G.B." This form of title seems to have been used for the first time by The New Yorker, which also doesn't acknowledge any previous publication.
Rating: C.
Download full text from The New Yorker.
Related: Stories of J G Ballard; doomsday fiction.

Avram Davidson's "Dr Bhumbo Singh" (short story, humor)

Sick of paying maintenance to his divorced wife, Underhand Effendi has contracted Dr Bhumbo Singh - proprietor of an expensive shop that sells "spells, smells, & shrunken heads" - to prepare him a smell so vile it drives anyone around mad!

With the help of his wife's domestic help, he will smuggle the little bottle of smelly concoction in her kitchen, with very desirable results.

But the fate is conniving against Underhand too...

Fact sheet.

First published: F&SF, October 1982.
Rating: A.