Isaac Asimov's In memory yet green, [volume] 1 of a two-volume autobiography, suffers from the faults that mar Asimov's fiction; it is long on plot (708 pages of revised diary entries) and short on characterization (few of his acquaintances emerge as anything but foils for Asimov). While Asimov is candid, as in revealing his own foibles and in exploring the effects of his immigrant background and previous early life on his attitudes and actions, he too often resorts to a parody of his legendary egomania. Finally, Asimov becomes his caricature of himself. This failing is particularly disappointing since Asimov, as the indexes of names and titles clearly indicate, is at the center of the "golden age" of science fiction. His accounts of his dealings with J. W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction, are ample evidence that Asimov might have explored the way he and the science fiction community of...