Immodest Proposals: The Complete Science Fiction of William Tenn, Volume 1
Mary C. Tabasko
Language: English
Pages: 618
ISBN: 1886778191
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
William Tenn ranks with Pohl and Kornbluth as one of SF’s greatest satirists. This volume contains most of his short fiction (the remainder will be printed in volume two). Dustjacket art by H. R. Van Dongen.
because you’ve become a symbol of dealing successfully, for your own ends, with these stellar foreigners, or at least their human errand-boys and chambermaids. They figure that maybe they can put a stop to Primey-dealing generally if they put a bloody stop to you. And I tell you this—maybe they are right.” “What exactly do you propose?” Hebster asked in a low voice. “That you come in with us. We’ll make an honest man of you—officially. We want you directing our investigation; except that the
before the apparatus has changed beyond your present recognition of it. You didn’t have to come, Mrs. Bryant—you volunteered. You all volunteered. After your editors had designated you as their choices for covering this experiment, you all had the peculiarly democratic privilege of refusing. None of you did. You recognized that to refuse this unusual honor would have shown you incapable of thinking in terms of National Security, would have, in fact implied a criticism of the Security Code itself
color. “And that’s the label. Please do not open until Christmas.” “What is it, do you think? An invasion from another planet?” “And we’re the first battle? Don’t be silly, Paul. Although it could be, at that. We could be a sample being sent back to headquarters to give them an idea of how tough a nut Earth might be. The careless, offhand way that green whatnot acted is what gripes me! It was as if he was going after Mike’s Casino first and then decided to take us because we were closer, or
two earphones for each set. Then, two Empire State Buildings or three Radio Cities, whichever is more convenient. We want those with foundations intact. A reasonably good copy of the Hermes statue by Praxiteles. And an electric toaster, circa 1941. That’s about all, isn’t it, Theseus?” Theseus bent over until his nose rested against his knees. Hebster groaned. The list wasn’t as bad as he’d expected—remarkable the way their masters always yearned for the electric gadgets and artistic
in a language that had been almost forgotten when the cornerstone of the library of Alexandria was laid. The men from the U.N. would reply, each one hoping desperately to make up for the alien’s lack of familiarity with his own tongue by such devices as hand gestures and facial expressions. Much later, a commission of anthropologists and psychologists brilliantly pointed out the difficulties in such physical, gestural communication with creatures possessing—as these aliens did—five manual