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Coming Attraction
A future New York City has changed since a nuclear bomb left areas of radiation that threaten the residents. Women wear coverings over their faces as the latest fashion trend. An Englishman in New York saves a girl from a speeding coupe with fish hooks on its fender. He finds himself attracted and repelled by the girl in this classic story of future shock from a science-fiction grand master.
16 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1950
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51 people want to read
About the author
Fritz Leiber
1,339 books1,060 followersFritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.
Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー
Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 2, 2016
A deplorable story written by a man, in which women enjoy being abused by men.
June 22, 2021
-Read in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One-
Sensitive readers will rally against the themes here. I have no issue at all with troubling themes, I do however have issues with boring stories. There was some interesting world building here that just felt wasted on a poor story.
Sensitive readers will rally against the themes here. I have no issue at all with troubling themes, I do however have issues with boring stories. There was some interesting world building here that just felt wasted on a poor story.
June 25, 2010
4.0 to 4.5 stars. A "classic" science fiction short story that deserves the title. One of my favorite pieces by Leiber. The story was named one of the best short stories of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America and included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 1.
Written in 1950 the story is set in dystopian Manhattan during a prolonged conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. where parts of the city have been made uninhabitable by the Russians. The main character, Wysten Turner, is a British citizen in New York on business. Early in the story, Wysten saves a young woman from being run over by a gang (one of the favorite "activities" of the local gangs is to catch women's clothing with fishhooks welded to the fenders of their cars). Since the woman Wynsten saves is wearing a mask similar to those worn by Muslim womnen (which is the fashion of the time but without any religious significance), he can not see who she is. The police ignore the attempted murder considering it no big deal.
The two arrange to meet later at a nightclub. Once there, the women beg Wysten to help her escape America and her abusive boyfried, a professional wrestler. Turner confronts to boyfriend when he arrives and knocks the wrestler down. To Wynsten's intense surprise, the women turns on him in defense of the boyfried. It turns our her flirting was intended only to arouse the anger of her boyfried as she craves his abuse. Turner finally tears her mask away and is repulsed by her expression of hatred for him. Confused and disheartened in the state of society, Wynsten quickly leaves America to return home. Highly Recommended!!
Written in 1950 the story is set in dystopian Manhattan during a prolonged conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. where parts of the city have been made uninhabitable by the Russians. The main character, Wysten Turner, is a British citizen in New York on business. Early in the story, Wysten saves a young woman from being run over by a gang (one of the favorite "activities" of the local gangs is to catch women's clothing with fishhooks welded to the fenders of their cars). Since the woman Wynsten saves is wearing a mask similar to those worn by Muslim womnen (which is the fashion of the time but without any religious significance), he can not see who she is. The police ignore the attempted murder considering it no big deal.
The two arrange to meet later at a nightclub. Once there, the women beg Wysten to help her escape America and her abusive boyfried, a professional wrestler. Turner confronts to boyfriend when he arrives and knocks the wrestler down. To Wynsten's intense surprise, the women turns on him in defense of the boyfried. It turns our her flirting was intended only to arouse the anger of her boyfried as she craves his abuse. Turner finally tears her mask away and is repulsed by her expression of hatred for him. Confused and disheartened in the state of society, Wynsten quickly leaves America to return home. Highly Recommended!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2016
The tag line is "Women will always go on trying to attract men.. even when the future seems to have no future!" Yup.
April 4, 2022
This book review is written largely because we are reading this story in the Fritz Leiber Goodreads group I moderate: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/.... I have problems with and consider this short story seriously flawed. Nevertheless, against my more refined judgment instincts, I really liked this story.
It has flaws to be sure. The writing is careless, haphazard, slapdash, somewhat unrevised looking, as though to make a quick sale to a start-up magazine looking for big names that won't be so picky about story quality. This story was published in Galaxy Magazine's second issue and I am sure they were thrilled to get it. Fritz was certainly a big name in 1950.
It must have come as quite a surprise to all, Fritz included, that this story was so acclaimed from the 1960s through the 1990s. It had almost a cult following, was a 2001 retro Hugo award nominee, and was featured in one of my all-time favorite anthologies: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964. It even has its own Wikipedia page devoted solely to this story.
What's careless about the writing? It projects a world that doesn't make sense. Russia and America have had a war maybe. America won but has battle scars, especially in New York City. A somewhat unwelcome British person who doesn't want to be in New York is there visiting. He saves an American woman from being run over, maybe, or more likely, having her dress snatched off by kids driving a car that has fishhooks on its bumper. The grateful American woman invites him to meet her later, and evades the police in the meantime. American women, for some reason, are all wearing veils, not from modesty, but because it was a fashion trend that turned into psychological necessity.
Okay, premise after premise in this short story stretches credibility. So, why do I like it so much? Because once you grant the author his premises, something readers have to do when reading a story, no matter how provisional that grant, the story becomes so compelling and clever. I won't go into spoiler territory by ruining things to explain why. All I can say is read the story yourself. It's short enough, and freely available on Gutenberg.org.
There's a better than even chance you will be one of the later readers who can't overlook the flawed premises, the wacky assumptions of character motives, the bad guesses about how the future would turn out. War between Russia and the U.S. never became hot, as premised here. It's been 75 years of proxy wars instead, like the one currently taking place in Ukraine. Nevertheless, once the premises are granted and the story read to its conclusion, it is absolutely fascinating.
Part of the reason the story works is that there's a love story in here that doesn't quite pan out. Science fiction readers of 1950 were as intolerant of romance in their science fiction as readers of today are. At least, most SF readers then and now will say they are, that they have no interest in such inconsequential matters. But it's not true. There's something timeless about a good romance. Will the guy get the girl is a question no reader can ever ignore, no matter the genre. The answer here is as good as it ever gets in any plot. It's completely original and unexpected.
The other objection many readers would bring to this story is the facemask as fashion trend for American women assertion, that it could never possibly become a fashion trend in America. I agree with critics here; it's a serious flaw for me too and a big part of my problem with the story. I do not rate the story five stars. I think this facemask as fashion prediction can be considered more deeply, however. Perhaps Leiber used it as a literary device rather than as a prediction. What major character's motives do we understand least of all in this story? The British agent's are transparent. But what do we know of the lady behind the mask? Is she simply a con artist as the Wikipedia article on this story assumes? I'm not so sure. What about how she asks in earnest to go to England? We know so little ultimately of this facemasked character, don't we? It's like she's not only masked in the story's life, she is masked from us the reader too.
This story is a brilliant snapshot of an admittedly implausible future world. Nevertheless, its characters and the world created have fascinating potential. My only real problem with the story is that so much of that potential never becomes realized. So many more questions are raised than answers provided.
It has flaws to be sure. The writing is careless, haphazard, slapdash, somewhat unrevised looking, as though to make a quick sale to a start-up magazine looking for big names that won't be so picky about story quality. This story was published in Galaxy Magazine's second issue and I am sure they were thrilled to get it. Fritz was certainly a big name in 1950.
It must have come as quite a surprise to all, Fritz included, that this story was so acclaimed from the 1960s through the 1990s. It had almost a cult following, was a 2001 retro Hugo award nominee, and was featured in one of my all-time favorite anthologies: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964. It even has its own Wikipedia page devoted solely to this story.
What's careless about the writing? It projects a world that doesn't make sense. Russia and America have had a war maybe. America won but has battle scars, especially in New York City. A somewhat unwelcome British person who doesn't want to be in New York is there visiting. He saves an American woman from being run over, maybe, or more likely, having her dress snatched off by kids driving a car that has fishhooks on its bumper. The grateful American woman invites him to meet her later, and evades the police in the meantime. American women, for some reason, are all wearing veils, not from modesty, but because it was a fashion trend that turned into psychological necessity.
Okay, premise after premise in this short story stretches credibility. So, why do I like it so much? Because once you grant the author his premises, something readers have to do when reading a story, no matter how provisional that grant, the story becomes so compelling and clever. I won't go into spoiler territory by ruining things to explain why. All I can say is read the story yourself. It's short enough, and freely available on Gutenberg.org.
There's a better than even chance you will be one of the later readers who can't overlook the flawed premises, the wacky assumptions of character motives, the bad guesses about how the future would turn out. War between Russia and the U.S. never became hot, as premised here. It's been 75 years of proxy wars instead, like the one currently taking place in Ukraine. Nevertheless, once the premises are granted and the story read to its conclusion, it is absolutely fascinating.
Part of the reason the story works is that there's a love story in here that doesn't quite pan out. Science fiction readers of 1950 were as intolerant of romance in their science fiction as readers of today are. At least, most SF readers then and now will say they are, that they have no interest in such inconsequential matters. But it's not true. There's something timeless about a good romance. Will the guy get the girl is a question no reader can ever ignore, no matter the genre. The answer here is as good as it ever gets in any plot. It's completely original and unexpected.
The other objection many readers would bring to this story is the facemask as fashion trend for American women assertion, that it could never possibly become a fashion trend in America. I agree with critics here; it's a serious flaw for me too and a big part of my problem with the story. I do not rate the story five stars. I think this facemask as fashion prediction can be considered more deeply, however. Perhaps Leiber used it as a literary device rather than as a prediction. What major character's motives do we understand least of all in this story? The British agent's are transparent. But what do we know of the lady behind the mask? Is she simply a con artist as the Wikipedia article on this story assumes? I'm not so sure. What about how she asks in earnest to go to England? We know so little ultimately of this facemasked character, don't we? It's like she's not only masked in the story's life, she is masked from us the reader too.
This story is a brilliant snapshot of an admittedly implausible future world. Nevertheless, its characters and the world created have fascinating potential. My only real problem with the story is that so much of that potential never becomes realized. So many more questions are raised than answers provided.
October 25, 2013
Rather thinly veiled allusions to Heaven and Hell, with reference to "Inferno". Fictional take on the BDSM community, where partners consent to violence amongst each other. Without the few futuristic elements, including genetic mutation, this is merely a tale of a man who gets mixed up in a violent relationship and leaves empty-handed, with no claim to a woman.
April 15, 2026
A post-apocalyptic world in which the war between the US and Russia left scars but not complete damage. New York is still there, although parts of it are bombed out and radioactivity lingers. Into this comes our protagonist, a British man, who saves a young woman from being injured by three joy-riders. In return, she asks him to come to her apartment that evening. This allows Leiber to show you this world, where sexual fascination has moved to the face such that women go masked in public as a fashion statement, and mixed gender wrestling is the most popular sport. It’s very weird, but Leiber makes it believable, partly because of the narrator’s not being a part of the culture, thus able to view and comment from outside it.
March 10, 2018
Dystopian, post-nuke; unique development, as far as I know. Something hard-boiled, fragmented.
October 22, 2024
It was a bit interesting that he predicted face masks as a fashion statement for women in the future. This story was published in the 1950s.
October 6, 2014
Surprisingly good classic short story. The setting is a bit dated - WWIII/post-WWIII cold war between US an USSR - but the theme / atmosphere is not - the fall of the western world to depravity and immorality. The idea that the Americans have sexualized a woman's face so much that all women wear masks is very intriguing.
May 17, 2012
One of my favorite stories from Fritz Leiber.
October 16, 2016
Good but depressing short story set in a post-apocalyptic, radiation-affected New York.
July 15, 2023
Coming Attraction
Fritz Leiber
Read July 2023
In The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964
I completely agree with the reviewer Adam: “I have no issue at all with troubling themes, I do however have issues with boring stories. There was some interesting world building here that just felt wasted on a poor story.“
The masks could have been used for so many cool ways in the plot, and where hardly used at all.
Fritz Leiber
Read July 2023
In The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One 1929-1964
I completely agree with the reviewer Adam: “I have no issue at all with troubling themes, I do however have issues with boring stories. There was some interesting world building here that just felt wasted on a poor story.“
The masks could have been used for so many cool ways in the plot, and where hardly used at all.
September 25, 2020
You know, if masks really were fashion trends the whole world would be a whole lot easier right now. This story was weird. I'm not really sure if there's a reason it needed to be sci-fi besides the "oh!" reveal at the end, and even then that could be fixed if the woman just had a poker face. But then again, if it wasn't sci-fi, then I wouldn't be reading it, huh?
December 31, 2023
A strange little story. Manhattan still registers higher than normal radiation levels due to war with the Soviet Union. Masks have become both a fashion statement and mandatory requirement for women. The reasons are never fully explained. A femme fatale pulls a visiting Englishman into a sick game.
June 28, 2018
A well paced story set in a post nuclear future (one of the most used scenarios of the times) that offers an interesting glimpse in weird world. I would've loved to read more stories set in this universe.
September 18, 2021
It didn’t really stick with me and I found it really hard to get into. With most storeys I can find something to enjoy withers it be the setting or the tone or the vocabulary or even a character. I just didn’t get buzzed by this at all!
August 25, 2024
This was an interesting exploration of the perception of how females perceive and present themselves, of course, with the influence of men, replete with misogyny. And the sometimes not so fortunate consequences.
Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vol 1
Science Fiction Hall of Fame, vol 1
September 7, 2019
In post apocalyptic future, women in the US wear face masks. An Englishman rescues a girl from a gang and she asks for help. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 #17.
December 17, 2021
I guess at that times.. not enough now
July 17, 2024
This was a very interesting story. I wanted to give it 4 stars, but there is something about the abrupt ending that I didn't like.
October 11, 2024
It’s ok I guess.
February 2, 2020
Leiber was a Heinlein fan, 'nuff said.
Read
January 16, 2018Pretty intriguing sci-fi short story. I'll need to read more works by Leiber.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews