Subterranean Press keeps bringing new collections of fiction and non fiction by Farmer, and that's good news for us, the Farmerians.
After The Best of Philip José Farmer (2006) and Pearls from Peoria (2006) this is the third collection. A fourth one, Venus on the Half-Shell and Others is already scheduled for publication early next year.
Every item in Up From the Bottomless Pit and Other Stories is reprinted from Farmerphile. For those who bought the first ten issues of this fanzine, there is nothing new in the book. Reprinted is not the correct word for all of the material, because the book got published just before issue number 9 of Farmerphile was published, and issue number 10 will be published in October.
As might be expected from Subterranean Press this is again a very beautiful book. It also has many interior illustrations. We received the slipcased, numbered and signed edition in August, and the lettered edition in a traycase just came this month, October. Both editions were sold out with the publisher within a month after publication. Maybe you can still find a copy with one of the online booksellers. Check this quickly before all books are gone, if you want a copy.
The lettered edition comes with an extra piece, see the book page.

Mike Croteau, publisher of Farmerphile, did a fantastic job searching in the archives at Phil Farmer's home for 'old' stories and articles that were not published before. He did us all a great favor finding several of them. Probably none of the stories will gain an award, none of them will be published in 'The Best SF of the Year' anthologies, but that does not change the fact that this book makes a good read.
Actually, this book does not contain much of science fiction. Most of the stories are in fact 'mainstream', or only with a hint at science fiction, like the novel Up From the Bottomless Pit. Phil Farmer started his writing career writing stories for the mainstream market. Only one of those stories got published at the time, "O'Brien and Obrenov".
But the rediscovered treasures all have the trademark of a typical Farmer story, they are witty. It shows that the author must have had a good time writing these stories. Although many are humorous, there is always a serious undertone, like a warning about pollution for instance. You might be surprised of how readable and entertaining these stories still are, years after they were written. It is nearly unbelievable that some of them were not sold and published before.
I have been enthusiastic with the publication of each story in the issues of Farmerphile and can only say that you are in for a treat with this collection!

Christopher Paul Carey, editor of Farmerphile and also the editor of this book, did a great job too, writing special introductions to nearly every item in the book - there is one story introduction by Win Scott Eckert - and a general introduction to the book, "Philip José Farmer: On the Road to the Emerald City." These introductions give some interesting background information on the items in the book.