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Star Light, Star Bright (short Story)
"Star Light, Star Bright" is a science fiction short story by American writer Alfred Bester, first published in 1953. Plot summary Marion Perkin Warbeck, referred to as "the doomed man", has discovered children with supernatural powers, which he calls "genius". He is pursuing one Stuart Buchanan, a ten-year-old boy who he believes can lead him to these children. Warbeck is a school principal who read an essay by Stuart that describes his friends inventing gadgets beyond known science. When Warbeck attempted to find Stuart, not only had the boy disappeared but all records about him had vanished, and nobody who was closely involved with him remembered anything about him. Warbeck tries to solve the mystery by going door to door in Stuart's old neighborhood, talking to people named "Buchanan" under various pretexts to avoid drawing attention to himself. He is waylaid by a gang that runs a fraud on people with that name, and has to explain his reasons to them to save his life. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including ''The Demolished Man'', winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953. Science fiction author Harry Harrison wrote, "Alfred Bester was one of the handful of writers who invented modern science fiction." Shortly before his death, the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) named Bester its ninth Grand Master, presented posthumously in 1988. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2001. Life and career Alfred Bester was born in Manhattan, New York City, on December 18, 1913. His father, James J. Bester, owned a shoe store and was a first-generation American whose parents were both Austrian Jews. Alfred's mother, Belle (née Silverman), was born in Russia and spoke Yiddish as her first language before coming to A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He was an advocate for states' rights, particularly regarding slavery, and minimized the role of the federal government preceding the Civil War. Buchanan was the last president born in the 18th century. Buchanan was a prominent lawyer in Pennsylvania and won his first election to the state's House of Representatives as a Federalist. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1820 and retained that post for five terms, aligning with Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. Buchanan served as Jackson's minister to Russia in 1832. He won the election in 1834 as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and continued in that position for 11 years. He was appointed to serve as President ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 Short Stories
Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. ** The Central Intelligence Agency, CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel first meets to discuss the Unidentified flying object, UFO phenomenon. * January 15 – Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying. * January 19 – 71.1% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into ''I Love Lucy'', to watch Lucy give birth to Little Ricky, which is more people than those who tune into Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration the next day. This record has yet to be broken. * January 20 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is First inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, sworn in as the 34th President of the United States. * January 24 ** Mau Mau Upr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launched on September 24, 1992, the channel broadcasts programming relating to the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres. As of January 2016, Syfy is available to 92.4 million households in America. History In 1989, in Boca Raton, Florida, communications attorneys and cable TV entrepreneurs Mitchell Rubenstein and his wife and business partner Laurie Silvers devised the concept for the Sci-Fi Channel, and signed up 8 of the top 10 cable TV operators as well as licensing exclusive rights to the British TV series ''Doctor Who'' (which shifted over from PBS to Sci-Fi Channel), ''Dark Shadows'', and the cult series ''The Prisoner''. In 1992, the channel was sold by Rubenstein and Silvers to USA Networks, then a joint venture between Para ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sci Fiction
''Sci Fiction'' was an online magazine which ran from 2000 to 2005. At one time, it was the leading online science fiction magazine. Published by Syfy and edited by Ellen Datlow, the work won multiple awards before it was discontinued. History The magazine was created by what was then the US Sci Fi Channel (now Syfy), and hosted at SCIFI.COM. The webzine starting publishing in May 2000. The principal editor was Ellen Datlow, who had previously edited two other online magazines: The online incarnation of '' OMNI'', and ''Event Horizon''. The webzine first made a splash when Linda Nagata's "Goddesses" won the Nebula Award for Best Novella for 2000. It was the first time that a piece of fiction originally published on a website won a Nebula. In 2002 Ellen Datlow won her first Hugo Award for Best Editor. In 2003 stories from the webzine won three awards, the Nebula Awards for Best Short Story ("What I Didn't See" by Karen Joy Fowler) and Best Novelette ("The Empire of Ice Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virtual Unrealities
''Virtual Unrealities'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Alfred Bester with an introduction by Robert Silverberg. Contents * "Disappearing Act" * "Oddy and Id" * "Star Light, Star Bright (short story), Star Light, Star Bright" (originally published in 1953, used as the title for two other compilations of Bester's short stories) * "5,271,009" (originally published in 1954) * "Fondly Fahrenheit" (originally published in 1954) * "Hobson's Choice (short story), Hobson's Choice" (originally published in 1952) * "Of Time and Third Avenue" (originally published in 1952) * "Time is the Traitor" (originally published in 1953) * "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" (originally published in 1958) (Hugo Award Nominee) * "The Pi Man" (originally published in 1959) (Hugo Award Nominee) * "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To" (originally published in 1963) * "Will You Wait?" (originally published in 1959) * "The Flowered Thundermug" (originally published in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Short Fiction Of Alfred Bester, Volume 2
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas had approached Spivak in the mid-1940s about creating a fantasy companion to Spivak's existing mystery title, ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. The first issue was titled ''The Magazine of Fantasy'', but the decision was quickly made to include science fiction as well as fantasy, and the title was changed correspondingly with the second issue. ''F&SF'' was quite different in presentation from the existing science fiction magazines of the day, most of which were in pulp format: it had no interior illustrations, no letter column, and text in a single column format, which in the opinion of science fiction historian Mike Ashley "set ''F&SF'' apart, giving it the air and authority of a superior magazine". ''F&SF'' qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wife Lila Bell Wallace. For many years, ''Reader's Digest'' was the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States; it lost the distinction in 2009 to '' Better Homes and Gardens''. According to Mediamark Research (2006), ''Reader's Digest'' reached more readers with household incomes of over $100,000 than ''Fortune'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Business Week'', and '' Inc.'' combined. Global editions of ''Reader's Digest'' reach an additional 40 million people in more than 70 countries, via 49 editions in 21 languages. The periodical has a global circulation of 10.5 million, making it the largest paid-circulation magazine in the world. It is also published in Braille, digital, audio, and a large type called "Reader's Digest Larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Light, Star Bright
"Star Light, Star Bright" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 16339. Lyrics The lyrics usually conform to the following: :Star light, star bright, :First star I see tonight; :I wish I may, I wish I might :Have the wish I wish tonight. Origins The superstition of hoping for wishes granted when seeing a shooting or falling star may date back to the ancient world. Wishing on the first star seen may also predate this rhyme, which first began to be recorded in late nineteenth-century America.R. Webster, ''The Encyclopedia of Superstitions'' (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2008), p. 245. The song and tradition seem to have reached Britain by the early twentieth century and have since spread worldwide.I. Opie and M. Tatem, ''A Dictionary of Superstitions'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 175-6. In popular culture It is used in the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio and related Disney media The first half is featured in the chorus of Madonna's son ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century. Definition The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story has been recurrently problematic. A classic definition of a short story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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