The meat, however, lies in the articles and letters reproduced from the original 'zine. The book opens with a bang with a very well-done review of the movie Psycho, by Harlan Ellison. Other highlights include James Blish's review of Kingsley Amis's groundbreaking critical study of SF, New Maps of Hell; another article by Blish (writing as "Arthur Merlyn", the same pseudonym he used for the original 1942 story that led to his later classic "Surface Tension"), this one a behind-the-scenes account of writing for the TV series Captain Video; a very funny and vicious parody of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu books, by Lin Carter; and perhaps most controversially, an article by Donald Westlake, bidding farewell to SF as a career. (A choice that proved very wise, as any reader of Westlake's wonderful comic mysteries such as his books about John Dortmunder, or of his darker mysteries as by "Richard Stark", will attest.) There are loving and knowledgeable pieces about comics, by Don Thompson and Roy Thomas. There is a piece about Clark Ashton Smith by a forgotten fan named H.P. Norton -- a curious choice as it is a dreadfully written article, and almost embarrassingly hagiographic (though again knowledgeable) -- I was glad to see a later letter endorsing my opinion. But even if this one article is a lesser work, it's also sincere, and an effective way of displaying one of the flavors of fandom.

One of the most vital parts of a fanzine is the letter column. Xero's was run by Pat Lupoff, and called Epistolary Intercourse. The present book includes a generous helping of letters, and they make more tasty reading. There is of course plenty of commentary on the more controversial articles -- notably on Blish's review of New Maps of Hell (a very controversial book in SF circles at that time), and on Westlake's farewell letter. (Many writers making the sensible point that Westlake's departure from SF, which he attributed to the moribund state of the field, in both artistic and commercial terms, might better have been a result of the fact (something Westlake admitted) that he himself was a better mystery writer than he was an SF writer.) There is also a series of purely delightful sly letters from Avram Davidson (some elevated to the status of separate articles).

I have not mentioned even half the contents of this book, and it is almost all well worth your time. I have one quibble -- the articles are nearly all undated. They appear to be arranged chronologically, but a more precise dating (that is, at least dates of the succeeding issues of Xero) would have been helpful. But that is a small thing. The book as a whole is fun, intelligent, historically interesting and still relevant: much to be recommended.