A fairer score for this book would probably be 4 for a person who is not a devout de Camp fan. It contains some clever ad funny material, but it is all minor work. Personally I am devout de Camp fan, like my father before me, and my brother got a copy of this dedicated to us by de Camp while my brother was attending Boskone IX were de Camp was guest of honor. d this book was published for the con by the NESFA Press. It includes a set of comic SF tall tales originally intended for Astounding SF magazine's "probability Zero" series (3 of the 4 were actually published there), a collection of comic verse, some science fiction or fantasy related essays (revised for this publication) , and some moderately witty and wise sayings, all by de Camp. The tall tales are probably the most valuable part of the book for the average reader, as they are genuinely funny.However, what stuck in my mind from reading this book many years ago was one of the aphorisms: ""Having worked for both the government and a large corporation, I found that, as far as the ordinary worker in a bureaucracy is concerned, the differences between them could be put in your eye." This has been amply confirmed by my experience teaching at both public and private universities. Another one I have found to be true by my observation of both history and current world politics is "Anarchy is an impossibility. The first power-hungry adventurer who gets control of enough guns instantly constitutes himself the new government." ( )