Grifters' Asteroid by H. L. Gold
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"Grifters' Asteroid" by H. L. Gold is a science fiction novella originally published in the early 1940s. Set in a humorous and satirical depiction of interplanetary con men, the story follows Harvey and Joe, two slick con artists, as they navigate their outrageous schemes on the small planetoid known as Planet 42. The novella explores themes of deception, greed, and the absurdities of commerce in a futuristic setting. In the story, Harvey
and Joe arrive at Planetoid 42 and quickly find themselves in a precarious situation as they confront the local mayor, Angus Johnson, who charges extortionate prices for water while simultaneously deceiving them. The duo, attempting to sell a miraculous remedy called "La-anago Yergis", realizes that they too have been swindled when they discover that the sweet water they bought is merely a ruse. As the plot unfolds, they cleverly manipulate Johnson into purchasing both the remedy and a faulty fourth-dimensional radio, ultimately escaping with a meager profit. The novella cleverly critiques human greed and the cyclical nature of deception in a lighthearted and entertaining manner. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Gold, H. L. (Horace Leonard), 1914-1996 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Lubbers, Bob, 1922-2017 |
| Title | Grifters' Asteroid |
| Series Title | Produced from Planet Stories May 1943 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 77.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Swindlers and swindling -- Fiction |
| Subject | Asteroids -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 62324 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-62324-5 |
| Release Date | Jun 4, 2020 |
| Last Update | Oct 18, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 483 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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