Submitted by jestocost 
(May 15, 2007)The first Cordwainer Smith story I read was “Scanners Live In Vain” in an anthology nearly 40 years ago. I had to wait until 1975 and the publication of “The Best of Cordwainer Smith” to satisfy a craving for more. I was not disappointed.
This anthology is the best introduction to the all too brief SF output of Paul Linebarger and also contains J.J. Pierce's introduction which gives context to the stories and the time line of the main themes.Smith's portrayal of his universe is so vivid and so broad that it's surreal characters and events, as in a dream, are completely believable. He uses allegories to weave themes of ennui, morality, religion, cruelty, hope, loyalty and wonder using unusual narrative styles in a sequence short stories, each of which is self contained and complete.
From “Scanners Live In Vain” to “Golden the Ship Was - Oh Oh Oh” the early period of Smith's vision of the growth of humanity and space travel is described. But this is not the common SF depiction of space operas ; individual characters, their moral values and beliefs are explored as mankind expands and changes. Pockets of earlier colonists become isolated only to be rediscovered in horribly mutated societies as in “the Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal” whose solution to this problem and his subsequent punishment is totally unpredictable.
Then comes “The Dead Lady of Clown Town.” A genetically modified dog, D'Joan's shows by her self sacrifice that true humans are less than the underpeople and leads to the Rediscovery of Man.
“Under Old Earth”, “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” and “The Ballad of Lost C'mell” expand on the Rediscovery of Man and The Instrumentality in the richest and and most imaginative of Smith's work.
For instance: Lord of the Instrumentality, Sto Odin, with his laminated mouse brained centurion robots descends into the Bezirk where Sunboy, a would be gentleman suicide, twists congohelium from the intelligent Douglas Ouyang planets to make people dance.
Or : Virginia wakes up French and with Paul celebrates the release of infectious diseases, is rescued by C'Mell, a cat person and travels with Macht up an abandoned boulevard to see the Abba Dingo above the clouds on earthport.
The characters and concepts in this book are unique. Smiths universe makes Dune seem as claustrophobic as Chekhov play. Read it.
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