Rating: 
Summary: Very diverse reading
Review: Bears Discover Fire is the classic SF story, using SF/Fantasy themes perfectly to truly explore human emotional struggles. It's my favorite SF story right now, replacing "I have no mouth but I must scream", by Ellison.Bisson writes with a quirkiness that's quite endearing, and his characters always seem quite real(except on those short short short stories where 2-D characters suffice for getting his 'punchline' across). In short, this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Very diverse reading
Review: Bears Discover Fire is the classic SF story, using SF/Fantasy themes perfectly to truly explore human emotional struggles. It's my favorite SF story right now, replacing "I have no mouth but I must scream", by Ellison. Bisson writes with a quirkiness that's quite endearing, and his characters always seem quite real(except on those short short short stories where 2-D characters suffice for getting his 'punchline' across). In short, this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Great Writer
Review: Bisson's imagination is truly on a slant with the real world, but he's even on a slant with the world of sci fi and fantasy. Not really sci fi, not really fantasy, not really mainstream. What kind of writer is this guy? Really, really good. That's what kind.
Rating: 
Summary: Just a Touch of Wierdness
Review: Bisson's imagination is truly on a slant with the real world, but he's even on a slant with the world of sci fi and fantasy. Not really sci fi, not really fantasy, not really mainstream. What kind of writer is this guy? Really, really good. That's what kind.
Rating:
Summary: Some very good stories
Review: I'm surprised there are so few reviews here. This book deserves to be wider read. I first read a Bisson story ten years ago in Omni -- "They're Made of Meat." I loved it. Very short, all dialogue, a great ending line... It's still one of my favorites of all time. To be honest, all of these stories are not fantastic. Some kind of leave you rubbing your head, like "The Coon Suit." What the heck was that?! But there are about ten very good stories in here that are worth the price of the book. Bisson writes in a way that is easy to read, even if the ideas don't always grab you. His snappier, dialogue-heavy stories are my favorite. Give this one a try.
Rating:
Summary: Some very good stories
Review: I'm surprised there are so few reviews here. This book deserves to be wider read. I first read a Bisson story ten years ago in Omni -- "They're Made of Meat." I loved it. Very short, all dialogue, a great ending line... It's still one of my favorites of all time. To be honest, all of these stories are not fantastic. Some kind of leave you rubbing your head, like "The Coon Suit." What the heck was that?! But there are about ten very good stories in here that are worth the price of the book. Bisson writes in a way that is easy to read, even if the ideas don't always grab you. His snappier, dialogue-heavy stories are my favorite. Give this one a try.
Rating:
Summary: The essential Bisson!
Review: Terry Bisson became one of my favorite fantasy authors from the first time I read "Bears Discover Fire" in Asimov's -- before it won the Hugo and Nebula. Many of the other stories in this collection I consider to be classics ... though others I never want to read again! The themes Bisson explores in these short stories are the same ones that emerge in greater detail in his novels, so this is an ideal primer to his work.
Rating:
Summary: Weird and Wonderful
Review: Terry Bisson is a master of the short form, and these are some of his best stories. His sense of place and his gift for dialogue make him one of the most important writers working today. The simple beauty of the title story alone, a multiple award winner, is worth the price of admission. If you have an imagination and an appreciation for the absurd, buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Great Writer
Review: Terry Bisson's genius has only been partially recognized. Bear's Discovered Fire (his second best work and consisting of short stories) is a must read for any literary student or book lover.
Rating:
Summary: Discover this book!
Review: This is a collection of short (often very) stories. Many, like the title story are based on a single conceit -- everything else is the same, except, well, bears discover fire. And instead of hibernating, they're camping out in the medians of interstates. Or in "England Underway," England starts moving around Ireland, swings past Bermuda and comes to rest off the East Coast of the U.S. The best comparison I can make is to Steven Wright jokes. "Press Ann" can't really be described here, but is now one of my all-time favorites. Bisson admits he sometimes writes "odd mainstream works" that get passed of as fantasy and SF. While only a handful of his works "count" as true fantasy or SF, they are no less enjoyable.
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