Monthly Archives: February 2010

Rest Day Read (SR-10)
Slow Tuesday Night by R.A. Lafferty
(direct link to Sci-Fi archives, or use this Neil Gaiman’s blog post , if can’t get to it from direct link)
“Freddy rented an office and had it furnished. This took one minute, negotiation, selection, and installation being almost instantaneous. Then he invented the manus module; that took another minute. He then had it manufactured and marketed; in three minutes it was in the hand of key buyers.
It caught on. It was an attractive module. The flow of orders began within thirty seconds. By ten minutes after eight every important person had one of the new manus modules, and the trend had been set. The module began to sell in the millions. It was one of the most interesting fads of the night, or at least the early part of the night.”
I found a link to this short story last week on Neil Gaiman’s blog. He linked it in reference to how fast communication can generate forces, both positive and negative in today’s technological environment. It is the first story I have read by R.A. Lafferty, so being curious, I googled him. Very interesting story about his life and work here. Grumpy, old, Catholic, sci-fi writer from the midwest, who did not start writing until his late 40’s. Now I am intrigued to read more of his work.
On a side note, if you are looking for something good for a quick read, try Neil Gaiman’s Newberry Award winning, The Graveyard Book. Good stuff.