Short Fiction O - R

Back to the Previous Page
Back to the Alphabetical Index

O Happy Day
[4200 words]

Ellen Datlow, fiction editor at Omni and a reliable friend of my work, had passed on [this story] for exploiting a one-note “gimmick,” the transposition of humans and rats.  So why include it here?  First, I have an irrational fondness for it.  Second, the switch in perspectives freaks out many readers.  Third, the story owes many of its effects and intermittently even its tone to my favorite book, Gulliver’s Travels.  Fourth, without a whisker of evidence, I like to think that “O Happy Day” mystically inspired James Patrick Kelly’s classic story “Rat.”  (It didn’t.)  And, fifth, I have an irrational fondness for it.  — from Afterword to Brighten to Incandescence


  1. Rigel Science Fiction #2 (Eric Vinicoff)
    [Richmond CA: Aesir Press], Fall 1981 ($1.75); pp. 34 - 38 [illustrated by Lisa Free]











  2. The Official Michael Bishop Website (Michael H. Hutchins)
    Online Publication, May 2003


  3. Brighten to Incandescence (MB), Jun 2003; pp. 145 - 155
Of Crystalline Labyrinths and the New Creation
[11500 words]

Ossie Safire, amateur archaelogist, and his fellow Diggers have come to the farm of Rowdy Al LeFever to study Ossie's latest find.  This anomaly may be just a crystalline geological outcropping, visible only in its "unsparkling" or a protrusion from the creation of a parallel universe.  And then they learn of similar discoveries in other places on Earth.

[This story] owes everything but its original maddening length to that cunning fantasist and oversized leprechaun, R. A. Lafferty.  When Virginia Kidd, then my agent, sent it to Robert Silverberg, a Lafferty admirer and the editor of the top-flight hardcover anthology series New Dimensions, Silverberg winced and called it a “stunt.”  Roy Torgeson, a Lafferty admirer and the editor of the second-tier paperback anthology series Chrysalis, proved more receptive, or more gullible.  He bought the story at almost twice its new wordage, ran it in the final spot in Chrysalis 7, and declared me in his introduction the author of the “only genuine lafferty ever written by anyone other than ‘The Man’ himself” and as “a genius . . . of sorts.”  (Punch of sorts.)  In 1979, out of respect for a writer now shamefully neglected, I had written my so-called lafferty in logorrheic high spirits, but what it really needed was a ruthless blue-penciling.  Twenty-two years later, I’ve given it one. - from Afterword to Brighten to Incandescence

The story was grossly self-indulgent before, embarrassingly so, but now, after a severe line-by-line edit, I'm proud to lay claim to it again and happy to see the new version in print. - from interview with Kilian Melloy on the Infinity Plus website


  1. Chrysalis 7 (Roy Torgeson)
    • New York: Kensington Publishing [Zebra Books] 575 [ISBN 0-89083-575-6] [pb], Feb 1980 ($1.95); pp. 249 - 287













  2. [as Von gläsernen Labyrinthen und der neuen Schöpfung]
    [German translation by Leni Sobez]
    Sonate für drei Elektroden (Roy Torgeson)
    • Rastatt: Moewig Playboy SF 6731 [ISBN 3-8118-6731-8] [pb], 1982 (DM 6,80)










  3. [significantly revised]
    Brighten to Incandescence (MB), Jun 2003; pp. 201 - 215














  4. Feast of Laughter: An Appreciation of R. A. Lafferty, Issue 1 (Kevin Cheek)
    • Boulder CO: Ktistec Press [ISBN 978-0-692-32410-3] [trade pb], Nov 2014 ($9.99); pp. 169 - 194
Old Folks at Home
[19800 words]

[An "Urban Nucleus of Atlanta" story]
  1. Universe 8 (Terry Carr)
    • Garden City NY: Doubleday & Co. [ISBN 0-385-12479-1] [hc], May 1978 ($7.95); pp. 1 - 48
    • London: Dennis Dobson [ISBN 0-234-72155-3] [hc], Jul 1979 (£4.25); pp. 1 - 48
    • New York: Popular Library 04443 [ISBN 0-445-04443-8] [pb], Jun 1979 ($1.75)






  2. Chapter Two of Catacomb Years (MB), Jan 1979; pp. 65 - 125














  3. Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year, Eighth Annual Collection (Gardner Dozois)
    • New York: Dutton [ISBN 0-525-06497-4] [hc], Aug 1979 ($9.95); pp. 121 - 158
    • New York: Dell 11232 [ISBN 0-440-11232-X] [pb], Aug 1980 ($2.25); pp. 230 - 291 [illustrated by Jack Gaughan]






  4. The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1 (Terry Carr)
    • New York: Ballantine [Del Rey] 28084 [ISBN 0-345-28084-9] [pb], Sep 1979 ($2.25); pp. 54 - 109














  5. [as Die Alten daheim]
    [German translation by Walter Brumm]
    Die Jahre in den Katakomben (MB), 1982; pp. 51 - 109














  6. [as Vita in famiglia]
    [Italian translation by Nicola Fantini]
    Storie del Pianeta azzurro (Sandro Pergameno)
    • Milan: Editrice Nord [Grandi Opere Nord 13] [ISBN 88-429-0596-8] [hc], Nov 1987 (Lire 30.000); pp. 255 - 308










  7. The City and the Cygnets (MB), Aug 2019; pp. 54 - 98














The Ommatidium Miniatures
[7000 words]
  1. The Microverse (Byron Preiss)
    • New York: Bantam Spectra [ISBN 0-553-05705-7] [hc], Nov 1989 ($29.95); pp. 48 - 62 [illustrated by Alan Gutierrez]
    • New York: Bantam Spectra [book club edition published by Doubleday] [hc], May 1990 ($17.98); pp. 48 - 62









  2. Nebula Awards 25 (Michael Bishop)
    • New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Apr 1991; pp. 200 - 217
      1. [ISBN 0-15-164933-2] [hardcover] ($24.95)
      2. [ISBN 0-15-665473-3] [trade paperback] ($14.95)










  3. At the City Limits of Fate (MB), Aug 1996; pp. 259 - 278
















  4. Virtually Now (Jeanne Schinto)
    • New York: Persea Books [ISBN 0-89255-220-4] [trade pb], Sep 1996 ($13.95); pp. 48 - 68














  5. [as Las miniaturas del omatidio]
    [Spanish (Castilian) translation by Maria Fernandez Gutierrez]
    En los suburbios del destino (MB), Jun 2010, pp. 229 - 244
On the Street of the Serpents
or, The Assassination of Chairman Mao as Effected by the Author in Seville, Spain, in the Spring of 1992, a Year of No Certain Historicity
[23600 words]

I remain grateful to David Gerrold for buying this story for his anthology Science Fiction Emphasis, when I was still a very new, and very uncertain, young writer.  His enthusiasm for this effort, and later his and Betty Ballantine's joint encouragement, led me to write my first novel.  Although "Serpents" by no means pleases everyone, I am proud to have written it.  It recalls for me my senior year of high school in Seville, Spain; the birth of my first child; my ambivalent feelings about teaching English to Air Force Academy candidates during the dark mid-tunnel days of the Vietnam War; and my doubts about my ability to succeed as a writer. — from Preface to Blooded on Arachne


  1. Science Fiction Emphasis #1 (David Gerrold)
    • New York: Ballantine 23962 [ISBN 0-345-23962-8] [pb], May 1974 ($1.25); pp. 141 - 211














  2. [as Ce qui se Passa Rue des Serpents ou l'Assassinat du Président Mao tel que l'a Commis l'Auteur à Séville au Printemps de l'An 1992 (Sous Réserve de l'Incertitude Historique Quant à la Datation)]
    [French translation by Michel Deutsch]
    Univers 02 (Yves Frémion)
    • Paris: J'ai Lu #614 [pb], Sep 1975; pp. 9 - 77









  3. [as En la calle de las sierpes]
    [Spanish translation by Sebastián Castro]
    Nueva dimensión #131 (Domingo Santos)
    [Barcelona: Ediciones Dronte], Feb 1981












  4. Blooded on Arachne (MB), Jan 1982; pp. 164 - 221















  5. [as Strasse der Schlangen]
    [German translation by Rainer Schmidt]
    Strasse der Schlangen (Werner Fuchs)
    • Munich: Knaur SF 5761 [ISBN 3-426-05761-1] [pb], 1983 (DM 6,80); pp. 122 - 178












  6. [as Auf der Straße der Schlangen]
    [German translation by Johannes R. Blasius]
    Raumfahrer und Sternzigeuner (MB), Nov 1983, pp. 5 - 68
One Winter in Eden
[14500 words]
  1. Dragons of Light (Orson Scott Card)
    • New York: Ace 16660 [ISBN 0-441-16660-1] [trade pb], Nov 1980 ($7.95); pp. 47 - 96 [illustrated by Val and John Lakey]
    • New York: Ace 16661 [ISBN 0-441-16661-X] [pb], Jun 1983 ($2.95); pp. 47 - 96
    • New York: Bart Books 037 [ISBN 1-55785-037-2] [pb], Jun 1988 ($3.95); pp. 47 - 96



  2. One Winter in Eden (MB), Jan 1984; pp. 3 - 42
The Orchid Forest: A Metafactual Narrative Introduction to
The Crystal Cosmos by Miguel Obispo
[4500 words]
  1. The New York Review of Science Fiction #222 (David G. Hartwell et al)
    [Pleasantville NY: Dragon Press], Feb 2007; pp. 1, 4 - 7












  2. The Crystal Cosmos by Rhys Hughes
    • Hornsea [UK]: PS Publishing; Oct 2007; pp. v - xix
      1. [ISBN 978-1-905834-55-6] [trade hardcover, limited to 500 copies, signed by Hughes] (£10.00)
      2. [ISBN 978-1-905834-56-3] [deluxe hardcover, limited to 100 copies, signed by Hughes and Bishop] (£25.00)
Other Arms Reach Out to Me
[4700 words]
  1. Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories (MB), Jun 2017; pp. 104 - 116
Out of the Mouths of Olympus

(see Vox Olympica)
Outside the Circle
[1500 words]
  1. The Thirteenth Moon #17 (Jacob Weisman)
    [San Francisco: Tachyon Publications], Jan 1996 ($4.95); pp. 11 - 15












  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 162 - 166
Patriots
[4900 words]

[Removed from the original manuscript of No Enemy But Time and revised]

  1. Shayol #6 (Pat Cadigan)
    [Overland Park KS: Flight Unlimited], Winter [Nov] 1982 ($3.95); pp. 45 - 48 [photo-illustrated by A. Mason]












  2. One Winter in Eden (MB), Jan 1984; pp. 117 - 129
















  3. Emphatically Not SF, Almost (MB), Dec 1990; pp. 69 - 83
The Pile
[6400 words]
[Based on notes by Jamie Bishop]

Winner of the 2008 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story
  1. Subterranean Online (William Schafer)
    [Burton MI: Subterranean Press], Winter 2008 [cover by Jamie Bishop]
    [Online Publication]











  2. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Twenty (Stephen Jones)
    • New York: Running Press [ISBN 978-0-7624-3727-6 ] [trade pb], Sep 2009 ($13.95); pp. 187-204











  3. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Volume Twenty (Stephen Jones)
    • London: Robinson [ISBN 978-1-84529-932-3] [trade pb], Sep 2009 (£7.99); pp. 187 - 204












  4. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 455 - 469














  5. The Best of Subterranean (William Schafer)
    • Burton MI: Subterranean Press [ISBN 978-1-59606-837-7], Jun 2017; pp. 157 - 174
      1. [Lettered edition: 26 signed leatherbound, traycased copies] ($350.00)
      2. [Limited edition: 350 signed numbered, slipcased copies] ($125.00)
      3. [Trade edition: fully clothbound hardcover copies] ($45.00)
Piñon Fall
[4600 words]

While hunting for nuts from the piñon trees that grow on the prairie at the base of the Sante de Cristo Mountains, Jamie and two other young Chicano boys rescue an injured alien creature.  They bring him back to their village, but in the meanwhile, their neighbor, a bigoted old woman has discovered that a large cocoon-like pod has fallen into her yard.

Ejler Jakobsson at Galaxy purchased it in the spring of 1970 for a C-note.  [see An Heir to Homer]  Not long after its publication there appeared in If, Galaxy's sister magazine, this enthusiastic response from Mrs. Charles E. Willis of Albany, Georgia: "The delicately haunting theme of this story remained with me long after I had finished reading it — not a commonplace occurrence.  The writer shows a sensitivity of expression and a talent for original description not frequently encountered. . . . I look forward to reading more by Mr. Bishop."  She probably wanted a letter.  Mrs. Charles E. Willis of Albany, Georgia, is my mother. - from Preface to Blooded on Arachne


  1. Galaxy (Ejler Jakobsson)
    [New York: UPD Publishing Corp.], Oct/Nov 1970 ($.75); pp. 88 - 99 [illustration uncredited, possibly Jack Gaughan]













  2. [as Papillons dans la neige]
    [French translation by Nany Rolland]
    Galaxie #101 (Michel Demuth)
    [Paris: Editions Opta], Oct 1972 (4 F); pp. 134 - 148
    [illustrated by Christine Gaussot]











  3. Blooded on Arachne (MB), Jan 1982; pp. 222 - 236















  4. [as Besucher]
    [German translation by Johannes R. Blasius]
    Arachne (MB), Jun 1983, pp. 163 - 176














  5. [as Pinienherbst]
    [German translation by Joachim Fuchs]
    Johann Sebastian Bach Memorial Barbecue (Wolfgang Jeschke)
    • Munich: Heyne SF 4697 [ISBN 3-453-04279-4] [pb], 1990 (DM 16,80)











  6. High Fantastic: Colorado's Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, and Science Fiction (Steve Rasnic Tem)
    • Denver CO: Ocean View Books, Jul 1995; pp. 58 - 70
      1. [ISBN 0-938075-45-4] [trade hardcover] ($29.95)
      2. [ISBN 0-938075-46-2] [[deluxe, signed, limited hardcover] ($75.00)









  7. Science Fiction Age presents Big Bangs: Famous First Stories by Science Fiction Masters (Scott Edelman)
    • Reston VA: Sovereign Media [no ISBN] [trade pb], 1998 (subscription gift); pp. 60- 71












  8. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 19-29
A Pocketful of Angst: A Mini-Anthology

[Group title for the following stories as reprinted in Emphatically Not SF, Almost (MB), Dec 1990: Dear Bill / A Father's Secret / Give a Little Whistle / The Egret]


The Procedure
[7000 words]

Somewhere I read a review of a short story (whose author and title I forget) about a medical intervention, or a genetic manipulation, that “frees” our species from the tyranny of the religious impulse.  I have always suspected that this impulse constitutes a portion of whatever gives substance to our humanity (a debatable point, I know), and so I wondered what might happen if an organic cure for the organic religious impulse proved reversible.  This idea gave birth to “The Procedure,” just as my desire to write a colorful off-world science-fiction story midwived it.  — from Afterword to Brighten to Incandescence


  1. Science Fiction Age (Scott Edelman)
    [Herndon VA: Sovereign Media Co., ISSN 1065-1829], Jul 1996 ($3.95); pp. 36 - 42 + 95 [illustrated by Bill Stoneham]











  2. [slightly revised]
    Brighten to Incandescence (MB), Jun 2003; pp. 253 - 267
Purr
[1900 words]
[Based on notes by Jamie Bishop]
  1. Weird Tales #352 (Ann VanderMeer)
    [Rockville MD: Wildside Press], November/December 2008 ($6.99); pp. 74 - 77 [illustrated by Steven Archer]













  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 175 - 179
The Quickening
[10200 words]

Imagine waking up in the morning to discover that every human being on Earth has been randomly relocated somewhere else.  When Lawson wakes up in Seville, Spain instead of his home town of Lynchburg, Tennessee, he realizes that the chaos of mob rioting has brought modern civilization to its knees — and the same thing must be happening in every other city in the world.  He wonders if he will see his wife and daughters ... or the world he once knew ... ever again.

Winner of the 1982 Nebula Award for Best Novelette


  1. Universe 11 (Terry Carr)
    • Garden City NY: Doubleday & Co. [ISBN 0-385-17226-5] [hc], Jun 1981 ($9.95); pp. 9 - 34
    • New York: Kensington Publishing [Zebra Books] 1143 [ISBN 0-8217-1143-1] [pb], Jan 1983 ($2.95)








  2. The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 8 (Arthur W. Saha)
    • New York: DAW Books UE1770 [#501] [ISBN 0-87997-770-1] [pb], Oct 1982 ($2.50); pp. 78 - 106
















  3. Fantasy Annual V (Terry Carr)
    • New York: Pocket [Timescape] 45436 [ISBN 0-671-45436-6] [pb], Nov 1982 ($2.95); pp. 228 - 256















  4. [as Retour à la vie]
    [French translation by Philippe R. Hupp]
    Univers 1983 (Joëlle Wintrebert)
    • Paris: J'ai Lu #1491 [ISBN 2-277-21491-4] [pb], Jun 1983; pp. 20 - 55











  5. Nebula Award Stories 17 (Joe Haldeman)
    • New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston [ISBN 0-03-063528-4] [hc], Aug 1983 ($16.95); pp. 209 - 241
    • New York: Ace 56797 [ISBN 0-441-56797-5] [pb], Jun 1985 ($3.50); pp. 209 - 241






  6. [as La vivificación]
    [Spanish translation by César Terrón]
    Nueva dimensión #148 (Domingo Santos)
    [Barcelona: Fénix], Dec 1983












  7. One Winter in Eden (MB), Jan 1984; pp. 243 - 273
















  8. [as Taido]
    [Japanese translation by Fusa Obi]
    S-F Magazine #309
    [Tokyo: Hayakawa Publishing Inc.], Feb 1984; pp. 70 - 94 [illustrated by Noboru Nonaka]











  9. The Quickening [book]
    • Eugene OR: Pulphouse Publishing [Short Story Paperback #12] [ISBN 1-56146-512-7] [pb], May 1991













  10. [as Taido]
    [Japanese translation by Fusa Obi]
    The Best Science Fiction of the Eighties, No. 2 (Takashi Ogawa and Makoto Yamagishi)
    • Tokyo: Hayakawa Bunko SF989 [ISBN 4-15-010989-3] [pb], Oct 1992 (¥940); pp. 7 - 57











  11. A Century of Fantasy 1980-1989 (Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg)
    • New York: MJF Books [ISBN 1-56731-156-3] [hc], Jan 1997 ($9.98); pp. 29 - 50













  12. [as To Xipnima]
    [Greek translation by Vaso Hounou]
    Apagorevmenos Planitis #4
    [Greece: George Bazinas], Jan/Feb 1997; pp. 56 - 68











  13. Crucified Dreams: Tales of Urban Horror (Joe R. Lansdale)
    • San Francisco CA: Tachyon Publications [ISBN 978-1-61696-003-2] [trade pb], Feb 2011 ($15.95); pp. 97 - 122











  14. [as Przyspieszenie]
    [Polish translation by Anna Klimasara]
    Rakietowe szlaki tom 3 (Lech Jęczmyka and Wojtek Sedeńki)
    • Warsaw, Poland: Wydawnictwo Solaris [ISBN 978-83-7590-072-9] [hc], Oct 2011 (53,90 zł)











  15. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 185 - 208















  16. [as Dislocazione]
    [Italian translation by Mira Gini]
    Dislocazione
    • Bologna Italy: Elara S.R.L. [no ISBN] [pamphlet], May 2013; pp. 5 - 31












  17. [as Uskoreniye]
    [Russian translation by K. Stashevsky]
    Korabl' prizrakov (Evgeny Nadolsky)
    • Minsk, Russia: KLF Sunflower [no ISBN] [hc], 2016 (); pp. 589 - 615
Rattlesnakes and Men
[11200 words]
  1. Asimov's Science Fiction #469 (Sheila Williams)
    [New York: Dell Magazines, ISSN 1065-2698], Feb 2015 ($4.99); pp. 10 - 28













  2. Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories (MB), Jun 2017; pp.207 - 235











Reading the Silks
[4800 words]
  1. Omni (Ellen Datlow)
    [New York: Omni Publications International Ltd., ISSN 0149-8711], Aug 1989 ($3.50); pp. 48 - 56 [illustrated by Heather Cooper]











  2. Continuity Program Book
    [Birmingham AL:], Feb 1994


  3. At the City Limits of Fate (MB), Aug 1996; pp. 231 - 244
















  4. [as Leyendo la seda]
    [Spanish (Castilian) translation by Maria Fernandez Gutierrez]
    En los suburbios del destino (MB), Jun 2010, pp. 207 - 218
The Road Leads Back
[6000 words]
  1. After O'Connor: Stories from Contemporary Georgia (Hugh Ruppersburg)
    • Athens: University of Georgia Press, Sep 2003; pp. 23 - 37
      1. [ISBN 0-8203-2556-2] [hardcover] ($49.95)
      2. [ISBN 0-8203-2557-0] [trade paperback] ($19.95)










  2. Polyphony, Volume 3 (Deborah Layne and Jay Lake)
    • Wilsonville OR: Wheatland Press [ISBN 0-9720547-3-1] [trade paperback], Oct 2003 ($17.95); pp. 63-79













  3. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 409 - 424














  4. Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories (MB), Jun 2017; pp. 17 -32












Rogue Tomato
[5000 words]

Philip K. awakens to find that he has been metamorphosed into a planetary-sized tomato encircling a red giant star.  This transfiguration leads him to believe that he has achieved the next step in humankind's evolution.

"Rogue Tomato", a finalist for the 1976 Hugo Award in the short story category, deserves neither exegesis nor defense.  It is a shameless piece of work.  I love it. — from Preface to Blooded on Arachne


  1. New Dimensions 5 (Robert Silverberg)
    • New York: Harper & Row [ISBN 0-06-013870-X] [hc], Apr 1975 ($7.95); pp. 84 - 98
    • New York: Harper & Row [book club edition published by Doubleday] [hc], Jun 1975 ($1.98); pp. 71 - 84
    • London: Gollancz [ISBN 0-575-02087-3] [hc], Jan 1976 (£3.20); pp. 84 - 98
    • New York: Perennial Library P354 [ISBN 0-06-080354-1] [pb], Sep 1976 ($1.95); pp. 84 - 98

















  2. [as Hagure tomato]
    [Japanese translation by Hisashi Asakura]
    S-F Magazine #227
    [Tokyo: Hayakawa Publishing Inc.], Oct 1977; pp. 78 - 88












  3. Blooded on Arachne (MB), Jan 1982; pp. 237 - 251















  4. The Road to Science Fiction #4: From Here to Forever (James Gunn)
    • New York: NAL [Mentor] ME2136 [ISBN 0-451-62136-0] [pb], Nov 1982 ($4.95)
    • Clarkston GA: White Wolf/Borealis WW 11090 [ISBN 1-56504-822-9] [trade pb], 1997 ($14.99); pp. 447- 457
    • Lanham MD: Scarecrow Press [ISBN 0-8108-4670-5] [trade pb], Apr 2003 ($45.50)



















  5. Changes (Michael Bishop & Ian Watson)
    • New York: Ace 10260 [ISBN 0-441-10260-3] [pb], Jul 1983 ($2.75); pp. 35 - 47















  6. [as Als Tomate im Weltraum]
    [German translation by Johannes R. Blasius]
    Raumfahrer und Sternzigeuner (MB), Nov 1983, pp. 69 - 83













  7. [as Die Verwandlung]
    [German translation by Andreas Brandhorst]
    Die Gebeine des Bertrand Russell (Wolfgang Jeschke)
    • Munich: Heyne SF 4057 [ISBN 3-453-31000-4] [pb], Mar 1984 (DM 9,80)












  8. Hunger for Horror (Robert Adams, Pamela Crippen Adams & Martin H. Greenberg)
    • New York: DAW Books 2266 [ISBN 0-88677-266-4] [pb], Mar 1988 ($3.50); pp. 217 - 230














  9. [as Wolny pomidor]
    [Polish translation by Zbigniew A. Królicki]
    Droga do Science Fiction 4: Od Dzisiaj do Wieczności (James Gunn)
    • Warsaw: Alfa [ISBN 83-7001-196-9], 1988











  10. [as Die Verwandlung]
    [German translation by Andreas Brandhorst]
    Willkommen in der Wirklichkeit: Die Alptraeume des Philip K. Dick (Uwe Anton)
    • Munich: Heyne SF 4713 [ISBN 3-453-04298-0] [pb], 1990 (DM 14,80); pp. 56 - 74











  11. Welcome to Reality: The Nightmares of Philip K. Dick (Uwe Anton)
    • Dexter MI: Broken Mirrors Press, Feb 1991; pp. 71 - 79
      1. [ISBN 0-9623824-4-2] [limited hardcover] ($55.00)
      2. [ISBN 0-9623824-5-0] [trade paperback] ($12.95)








  12. [as Die Verwandlung]
    [German translation by Andreas Brandhorst]
    Von Malzberg bis Benford (Wege zur Science Fiction - Band 10) (James E. Gunn)
    • Munich: Heyne BSF 99 [ISBN 3-453-06244-2] [pb], 1993 (DM 14,90)












  13. [as Liè zhong fanqié]
    [Chinese translation]
    The Road to Science Fiction (Volume IV): From Now to Forever ()
    • China: Fujian Children's Publishing House [ISBN 9787539514369] [trade pb], Jul 1997 (); pp. -










  14. Dangerous Vegetables (Keith Laumer, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh)
    • New York: Baen 57781 [ISBN 0-671-57781-6] [pb], Dec 1998 ($5.99); pp. 39 - 54














  15. [as La tomate vagabonde]
    [French translation by Gilles Goullet]
    Bifrost #18 (Olivier Girard)
    [Fontainebleu/Avon, France: Editions du Bélial], May 2000 [ISBN 2-913039-10-3] (53 FF); pp. 6 - 15










  16. [as Tomate errante]
    [Spanish translation by Carlos Gardini]
    Gigamesh #39 (Juanma Santiago)
    [Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Gigamesh], Apr 2005 (5,95 €); pp. 5 - 16 [illustrated by Emilio Gallego]











  17. [as Liè zhong fanqié]
    [Chinese translation]
    Tower of Ashes: The Road to Science Fiction (James Gunn)
    • China: Peking University Press [ISBN 9787301142455] [trade pb], Sep 2008 (); pp. -










  18. [as Pomodoro brado]
    [Italian translation by Stefano Carducci]
    Pianeti di parole Tome 1 (Stefano Carducci & Alessandro Fambrini)
    • Arese, Italy: Edizioni Della Vigna (La Botte Piccola 9) [ISBN 978-88-6276-041-6] [trade pb], Sep 2010 (22,00 €); pp. 229 - 247
The Russian Agent
[6500 words]

A small-town Georgia mystery writer plays host to an eccentric Russian who wants to represent the writer's work in Russia.


  1. The Chattahoochee Review (Lawrence Hetrick)
    [Dunwoody GA: Georgia Perimeter College, ISSN 0741-9155], Spr 2002; pp. 57 - 72












  2. Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories (MB), Jun 2017; pp. 131 - 146














Compiled by Michael H. Hutchins

Forward to the Next Page
Back to the Alphabetical Index