Jeffty Is Five

"Jeffty Is Five" is a fantasy short story by American author Harlan Ellison. It was first published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in 1977, then was included in DAW's '' The 1978 Annual World's Best SF'' in 1978 and Ellison's short story collection ''Shatterday'' two years later. According to Ellison, it was partially inspired by a fragment of conversation that he misheard at a party at the home of actor Walter Koenig: "How is Jeff?" "Jeff is fine. He's always fine," which he perceived as "Jeff is five, he's always five." Ellison based the character of Jeffty on Joshua Andrew Koenig, Walter's son. He declared:

Plot

Jeffty is a boy who never grows past the age of five — physically, mentally, or chronologically. The narrator, Jeffty's friend from the age of five well into adulthood, discovers that Jeffty has the ability to access current versions of popular culture from the narrator's youth. His radio plays all-new episodes of long-canceled serial programs, broadcast on radio stations that no longer exist. He can buy all-new issues of long-discontinued pulp magazines such as ''The Shadow'' and ''Doc Savage'', with all-new stories by long-dead authors such as Stanley G. Weinbaum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Robert E. Howard. Jeffty can even watch films that are adaptations of old science fiction novels such as Alfred Bester's ''The Demolished Man''. The narrator is privy to this world because of Jeffty's trust, while the rest of the world (the world that got older as Jeffty did not) is not. While Jeffty is cute and has the sweetness and humor of an actual five-year-old boy, his parents are scared of him, wondering why he is staying a little boy in every way.

While waiting in line at the local movie house, waiting for the narrator to show up, Jeffty borrows a portable radio from some teens and tunes in a radio show from the past. When Jeffty is unable to return the radio to its normal setting, the teenagers beat him badly. Once returned to his home, Jeffty somehow dies. (It is unknown if it was due to the wounds, due to a murder, or due to a combination of the both.)

Reception

"Jeffty Is Five" won the 1977 Nebula Award for Best Short StoryNebula Award Winners 1965-2011
at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved February 26, 2017 and the 1978 Hugo Award for Best Short Story,1978 Hugo Awards
, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved February 26, 2017 and was nominated for the 1978 World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction.Nominees
at the World Fantasy Convention; retrieved February 26, 2017 It was also voted in a 1999 online poll of Locus readers1999 Locus Poll
at ''Locus Online'' (via archive.org) as the best short story of all time.

''Publishers Weekly'' called it "touching but scary",The Essential Ellison: A 35-Year Retrospective
at Publishers Weekly; reviewed January 1, 1987; retrieved February 26, 2017 and Tor.com called it "heartbreaking",3 Quick Ways to Introduce Yourself to the Work of Harlan Ellison
by Ryan Britt, at Tor.com; published May 27, 2012; retrieved February 26, 2017 while at the SF Site, Paul Kincaid described it as "a wonder of sustained nostalgia coupled with despair at the modern world", but noted that it "only really succeeds because of the tragedy of tsending."''Shatterday'', by Harlan Ellison
reviewed by Paul Kincaid, at the SF Site; published 2007; retrieved February 26, 2017

References

{{Nebula Award for Best Short Story
Hugo Award for Best Short Story winning works
Short stories by Harlan Ellison
1977 short stories
Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Nebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works
Fantasy short stories