On an Odd Note is a collection of short stories

Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...

 written by Gerald Kersh

Gerald Kersh

Gerald Kersh was a British writer. Born in 1911, he began to write at the age of 8. After leaving school he worked as, amongst other things, a cinema manager, bodyguard, debt collector, fish & chip cook, travelling salesman, French teacher and all-in-wrestler whilst attempting to 'make it' as a...

, published as a paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

 original by Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...

 in 1958. No other editions were issued.

Contents

• "Seed of Destruction (Esquire
  Esquire (magazine)
  Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
  
  1947)
• "Frozen Beauty" John Bull
  John Bull (magazine)
  John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...
  
   1941)
• "Reflections in a Tablespoon" (Neither Man Nor Dog 1946)
• "The Crewel Needle" Lilliput
  Lilliput (magazine)
  Lilliput was a small-format British monthly magazine of humour, short stories, photographs and the arts, founded in 1937 by the photojournalist Stefan Lorant. The first issue came out in July and it was sold shortly after to Edward Hulton, when editorship was taken over by Tom Hopkinson in 1940....
  
   1953)
• "The Sympathetic Souse" (Lilliput 1954)
• "The Queen of Pig Island The Strand 1949)
• "Prophet Without Honor" (original)
• "The Beggars’ Stone" (John O'London's Weekly
  John O'London's Weekly
  John O'London's Weekly was a weekly literary magazine that was published by George Newnes of London between 1919 and 1954. Regarded as the leading literary magazine in the British Empire, at its height it had a circulation of 80,000, and it was popular among young and older readers alike.Founded in...
  
  1941)
• "The Brighton Monster The Saturday Evening Post
  The Saturday Evening Post
  The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
  
   1948)
• "The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy (Penguin Parade 1939)
• "Fantasy of a Hunted Man" (John Bull 1942)
• "The Gentleman All in Black" (John Bull 1942)
• "The Eye (The Saturday Evening Post 1957)

"Frozen Beauty", "Fantasy of a Hunted Man" and "The Gentleman All in Black" originally appeared under the "Waldo Keller" byline. "The Beggars' Stone" was originally published as "The Stone". "The Brighton Monster" was originally published as "The Monster". "The Eye" was originally published as "The Murderer's Eye".

Reception

Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher

Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...

, despite faulting the story selection as a chaotic mix of genres, noted that the book "is unified by the ever-captivating Kersh personality." Boucher concluded that while "Mr. Kersh can (and often does) write a trite or inept story, . . . he is incapable of writing a dull sentence."

Everett F. Bleiler

Everett F. Bleiler

Everett Franklin Bleiler was an editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called...

found On an Odd Note to be "a collection of Kersh's more important fantastic stories. . . . Good narratives, with unusual detail."