I enjoyed this collection of mid-period Asimov. The stories were pretty classic Asimov, short on character, but long on plot and action and I thought the forewords and afterwords where the Good Doctor talked both about the story and threw in autobiographical details of his own life were just as interesting. When talking directly to the reader, Asimov has a wonderfully chatty style; I’d have loved to have met him in person (although I can say that safely, as I’m not a young woman).
Of the stories themselves, partial as I am to a good shaggy dog story (I love Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart, for example), Shah Guido G. was a good one, with a fabulous pun at the end of it. The title story, Buy Jupiter was a nice one too, with another neat sting in the tail. Does a Bee Care? is one that I’ve read before in another collection somewhere and still enjoyed on a reread, while Let’s Not is one of several dystopic or post-apocalyptic stories in the collection, and the last line is a stinger.
So a strong collection, worthy of the established fan and the Asimov novice alike, but as noteworthy for the biographical detail from the author as the stories themselves.
