American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s

Science fiction used to be looked down on by the so-called literati, but times have changed. If you want proof of that, then look no further than the publication of American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s by the Library of America. This is a two-volume set containing nine classic novels from the 1950s, a decade where science fiction became something to be taken seriously. Out of the nine novels included in the set, I've read eight, several of them more than once, and I think the "classic" approbation is deserved. 

On the Library of America's website, you can read the introduction to each of the books. The novels and the authors who wrote the introductions (in brackets) are:

• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (William Gibson)
• A Case of Conscience by James Blish (William Morrow)
• The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett (Nicola Griffith)
• Who? by Algys Budrys (Tim Powers)
• Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (Connie Willis)
• The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth (Michael Dirda)
• The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (Neil Gaiman)
• The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (Peter Straub)
• More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (Kit Reed)

The website also includes short articles by editor Gary K. Wolfe about the 1950s that put the books in their historical context, as well as bibliographies and other material by and about the authors. For example, the page on Double Star includes links to audio version of five of Heinlein's stories that were broadcast on the radio show, Dimension X.