title: The Metallic Muse
text: # The Metallic Muse
  
  The Metallic Muse is a collection of science fiction stories by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., published in hardcover by Doubleday Books in 1972. It was reprinted in paperback by DAW Books in 1973.
  
  ## Contents
  
  * "The Tunesmith" (If 1957)
  * "Leading Man" (Galaxy 1957)
  * "Spare the Rod" (Galaxy 1958)
  * "Orphan of the Void" (Fantastic 1960)
  * "Well of the Deep Wish" (If 1961)
  * "In His Own Image" (F&SF 1968)
  * "The Botticelli Horror" (Fantastic 1960)
  
  "Orphan of the Void" was originally published as "The Man Who Wasn't Home."
  
  ## Reception
  
  Theodore Sturgeon noted that Biggle's stories "are usually constructed around an idea or solution withheld until the punchline. . . . a valid technique, except where the reader gets to the punchline first."
  
  