Destination: void

A surprisingly good collection of relatively early SF stories by A. E. van Vogt. I first read it in my mid-teens, and it made a big impression on me; when I rediscovered it forty years later, it was with real delight. His stories bridge the Gernsback era of science fiction to the Campbell era; they could be utterly memorable, and in Destination: Universe they mostly were. They express feelings and moments that stayed with me for decades. His later bad habit of cannibalizing his own earlier work shadowed his overall reputation in my eyes, but the fact remains that when he was good, he was very good indeed. Although all of the stories are excellent, "The Monster" and "A Can of Paint" are particularly memorable.