This is one part of
The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr.
. The other part appears in
Conditionally Human and Other Stories
.

Contents:
- The Darfsteller (1955)
- The Will (1954)
- Vengeance for Nikolai (1957, variant of The Song of Marya )
- Crucifixus Etiam (1953)
- I, Dreamer (1953)
- The Lineman (1957)
- Big Joe and the Nth Generation (1952, variant of It Takes a Thief )
- You Triflin' Skunk! (1955, variant of The Triflin' Man )

Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones

Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr. 's A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future.

In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.

Seiscientos años después del holocausto nuclear, el Venerable Leibowitz va a ser canonizado. De la antigua civilización no quedan más vestigios que los conservados por la Orden Albertiana de Leibowitz, cuyos monjes dedican sus vidas a la interminable tarea de iluminar e interpretar las obras del Venerable con la finalidad de reconstruir sobre ellas el mundo tal como fue. Dividida en tres partes -Fiat homo, Fiat lux y Fiat voluntas tua-, que se corresponden con tres momentos separados por seis siglos, Cántico por Leibowitz narra la epopeya de los monjes de esa nueva Edad Media por salvar las migajas del saber humano que han sobrevivido a la hecatombre, mientras esperan que ese legado eleve de nuevo a la humanidad al pedestal del poder, y también del orgullo.

A novel that will change all those who read it, this bitingly cynical and disturbingly prophetic look at the future of humankind will chill readers to the bone.

Centuries after a nuclear war devastated the Earth, Brother Francis Gerard of Leibowitz Abbey is on a Lenten fast in the Utah desert when he uncovers an ancient fallout survival shelter containing puzzling clues into pre-Flame Deluge culture. Some of the findings may even have belonged to martyred “booklegger” Isaac Edward Leibowitz himself, a priest who dedicated his life to saving knowledge for future generations. But will Brother Gerard’s discovery help humankind avoid another self-inflicted catastrophe?

Almost a half century after it was first published, A Canticle for Leibowitz hasn't lost any of its megaton punch—if anything, Miller’s words relating to humankind’s propensity for self-destruction have taken on a kind of eerie aura of prophecy: “Is the species congenitally insane, Brother? Are we doomed to do it again and again and again? Have we no choice but to play the Phoenix in an unending sequence of rise and fall? Are we doomed to it, Lord, chained to the pendulum of our own mad clockwork, helpless to halt its swing?” A fascinating and paradoxical novel by an equally paradoxical man, A Canticle for Leibowitz is undeniably one of the best science fiction novels of all time. Mary Doria Russell sums it up perfectly: “You’ll be different when you finish it.”

《莱博维茨的赞歌》是美国科幻作家、雨果奖获得者小沃尔特•M.米勒的一部长篇小说，讲述了人类文明毁灭-重生-毁灭的轮回史诗，赞美了人类渴求知识、渴望文明的伟大精神。全篇由三个相对独立又互有联系的故事组成，聚焦于信仰与科学、宗教与世俗信仰之间的冲突，思想性对话精彩紧张，人物刻画夸张而细腻，堪称后启示录科幻中的经典。
一部伟大到不需要续集的文明史诗
这本书里，地球毁灭了两次
只有对文明不灭的信仰，才能抵御一次次的沦亡
“雨果奖”获奖作品，全球超过110个版本
•入选100位哈佛教授推荐有影响力的书
•入选英国《卫报》必读科幻小说名单
•《时代周刊》赞誉“具有伟大文学价值的小说”
•《轨迹》杂志票选20世纪科幻长篇小说名单
“非同一般……非常震撼人心。”——《时代》
“愤怒而又优雅……非常精彩的故事。”——《纽约时报》
“一个让人兴奋和充满想象的故事……无条件推荐。”——《图书馆杂志》
“想象丰富，妙趣横生，又让人觉得恐怖，让人对人类的道德和理性陷入深思……但首先，它是一个令人难忘的故事，读过的人一定会记住很多年。”——《芝加哥论坛报》
可能是科幻作品中独一一部被认可的文学经典——大卫•N.萨缪尔森

Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s "A Canticle for Leibowitz" is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future. In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, "A Canticle for Leibowitz" retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.