Schwartz Between the Galaxies, by Robert Silverberg

Not much on this one, as I just couldn't stay engaged. Silverberg is trying to take on questions of cultural diversity versus the ultimate unity of mankind. His vehicle is Schwartz, a lecturer on the subject. The aliens in the story are a fantasy device of his, ending up drug-induced, I think. Meh. Schwartz Between the Galaxies is just OK. Again, better read than heard.

When We Went To See the End of the World, by Robert Silverberg

I'll take an audio recording when text isn't available, and that is how I listened to Robert Silverberg's When We Went To See the End of the World. It's very much a period piece. A set of middle-class swingers is engaging in some one-upmanship about having been on an excursion to the end of the world. Turns out it was different for each of them. It takes awhile to see their situation. SPOILER ALERT--they are being duped. As they are partying, news reports come in about various environmental catastrophes. It seems that they are being taken to the sites of these events, and each is being told that this is how the world ends. They are all right. Plenty of relevance for today, and subtly told. Good stuff from a grand master.