Irrational Numbers
George Alec Effinger
Language: English
Pages: 130
ISBN: B00VGNTMTK
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This is the eBook copy of a recent re-printing of George Alec Effinger's "Irrational Numbers", a collection of his short stories originally published by Doubleday in 1976. This copy was obtained directly from Amazon through OverDrive.
The death of a pet fish signals an ominous threat of wordwide tragedy... Delta Company “plays” out a war light years away... A running back for the Cleveland Browns gives his all to relive a night from his past…
In IRRATIONAL NUMBERS, as with much of his work, author George Alec Effinger straddles the line between allegorical fantasy and science fiction. It’s a vein Effinger mines for a deep, meaningful understanding of human nature. Challenging and disquieting in the way only the best fiction can be, this collection of eight magnificent pieces of fiction will have readers clamoring for more.
George Alec Effinger was a true master of satirical Science Fiction. Before his death in 2002, he gained the highest esteem amongst his peers for his pitch-perfect stylistic mimicry and his great insight into the human condition. Despite a life filled with chronic illness, Effinger was a prolific novelist and short story writer, earning multiple Nebula and Hugo Award nominations.
of the North American Biological Research Association. Although biology was not Dr. Waters' own field, and although his audience had come hoping to hear of his recent work in the area of applied plasmonics, his lecture caused a great deal of excitement. "We are right this minute caught in the midst of an unimaginable catastrophe," said Dr. Waters. "Even as we sit here the forces of nature, those immutable ordinances by which we shape our lives, conspire to spell our doom. But because the
one on his feet. Jennings shouted his orders for MacDay alone. MacDay didn't know that. He was fascinated by what his oxygen-starved brain was showing him. He saw a strange, wonderful scene around him. The grass field had disappeared. The college and the entire summer world had vanished with it. He was still running in place, jumping up and down at the head coach's command, but MacDay had forgotten that. The darkness had swallowed him up, then gradually lightened a little to show him the inside
of a restaurant. He saw a table, and he saw Louvina. He saw his wife, just the way she had been on the afternoon before she had been ... hurt. Nothing moved. Louvina seemed frozen, looking at him with an odd expression. She seemed so real that he could touch her. The table and chairs, the other people in the place— MacDay could turn his head and observe everything to the smallest detail—all seemed caught in a suspension of time. He felt tears coming to his eyes. He wanted to hold Lou one last
they have those guards following us? Do they think we're spies from Kellogg's or something?" he asked. "They're probably guarding the bran shipment." "We use, first off, only the finest Laurentian bran ore. Come up closer; make a circle around here so that you can see better. I think the boys are unloading a shipment right now. Hello, Tom. Hi, Bob, Larry. Ned. Mack." We all noticed that Mr. Jennings knew the names of all the workmen. Just like Caesar. We gathered around him in a group,
abdomen, where the tunic was fouled with a rapidly spreading bloody stain. "Zunden," he whispered hoarsely. "What the hell do you mean, 'Zunden'?" A bubble of red froth burst on Staefler's lips and trickled down his chin. Weinraub looked up helplessly. Confused, the American soldiers had stopped their unscheduled progress. The committee was on its feet. The sergeant could see General Hanson already stalking back toward his jeep. "We closed after one performance," said Weinraub bitterly. He