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Time Bum
science fiction
ebook
First published January 1, 1953
6 people want to read
About the author
C.M. Kornbluth
359 books87 followers
Cyril M. Kornbluth
grew up in Inwood in New York City. As a teenager, he became a member of the Futurians, the influential group of science fiction fans and writers. While a member of the Futurians, he met and became friends with Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, Donald A. Wollheim, Robert A. W. Lowndes, and his future wife Mary Byers. He also participated in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association.
Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European Theatre). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge, where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his discharge, he returned to finish his education, which had been interrupted by the war, at the University of Chicago. While living in Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press, a news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full time, returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on a number of novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril (as Cyril Judd).
He used a variety of pen-names: Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond and Scott Mariner.
Kornbluth served in the US Army during World War II (European Theatre). He received a Bronze Star for his service in the Battle of the Bulge, where he served as a member of a heavy machine gun crew. Upon his discharge, he returned to finish his education, which had been interrupted by the war, at the University of Chicago. While living in Chicago he also worked at Trans-Radio Press, a news wire service. In 1951 he started writing full time, returning to the East Coast where he collaborated on a number of novels with his old Futurian friends Frederik Pohl and Judith Merril (as Cyril Judd).
He used a variety of pen-names: Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond and Scott Mariner.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 6, 2022
Kornbluth’s Ambivalent Bow to Sci Fi Readers
Time Bum is a weirdly humorous short story that C.M. Kornbluth had published in the Fantastic magazine in early 1953 and that was later re-published in his collection A Mile Beyond the Moon. It tells us of a conman who gets more than he bargained for.
This conman, who goes by the sobriquet of Harry Twenty-Third Street, tries to swindle a greedy estate agent out of his money by seemingly becoming a target of the realtor’s blackmail attempt. The story is written in a tongue-in-cheek tone and also makes fun of science fiction readers in that Mrs. Lachlan, the estate agent’s wife, a dyed-in-the-wool reader of science fiction stories, surmises that the mysterious Mr. Clurg, a.k.a. Harry, is a time traveller from the future come to cash in on inventions which he presents as his own. This idea makes her husband fall prey to Harry’s scheme, but in the end, Harry falls prey to his own scheme as well, in a way that we as the readers might easily anticipate. Thus, ironically, the sci fi aficionado in the story is quite gullible, whereas the sci fi aficionado who reads the story is in the know. My personal favourite quotation from this story is when the supposed time traveller implores Mr. Lachlan in the following words,
No matter whether reading science fiction may make you more naïve or less so, it is always good fun, and this story proves it.
Time Bum is a weirdly humorous short story that C.M. Kornbluth had published in the Fantastic magazine in early 1953 and that was later re-published in his collection A Mile Beyond the Moon. It tells us of a conman who gets more than he bargained for.
This conman, who goes by the sobriquet of Harry Twenty-Third Street, tries to swindle a greedy estate agent out of his money by seemingly becoming a target of the realtor’s blackmail attempt. The story is written in a tongue-in-cheek tone and also makes fun of science fiction readers in that Mrs. Lachlan, the estate agent’s wife, a dyed-in-the-wool reader of science fiction stories, surmises that the mysterious Mr. Clurg, a.k.a. Harry, is a time traveller from the future come to cash in on inventions which he presents as his own. This idea makes her husband fall prey to Harry’s scheme, but in the end, Harry falls prey to his own scheme as well, in a way that we as the readers might easily anticipate. Thus, ironically, the sci fi aficionado in the story is quite gullible, whereas the sci fi aficionado who reads the story is in the know. My personal favourite quotation from this story is when the supposed time traveller implores Mr. Lachlan in the following words,
”’[…] You swear by your contemporary God that you would say nothing?’”
No matter whether reading science fiction may make you more naïve or less so, it is always good fun, and this story proves it.
July 30, 2023
Entertaining Sci-Fi listening 🎧
I listened to this as part of the Third Science Fiction Megapack. It is an enjoyable Sci-Fi listen. 2023
I listened to this as part of the Third Science Fiction Megapack. It is an enjoyable Sci-Fi listen. 2023
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews