"The Pi Man" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer

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, inclu ...

. It was first published in ''

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 a ...

'', in 1959. Bester subsequently revised it extensively for his 1976 collection ''

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 mig ...

'', changing the characters' names, "develop(ing) minor scenes", modifying the typographical "word pictures", and deleting several "stale references to

beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...

culture".
Alfred Bester
' by Jad Smith, published December 1 2016 by

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...

Synopsis

Peter Marko's superhuman abilities of

pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data. It has applications in statistical data analysis, signal processing, image analysis, information retrieval, bioinformatics, data compression, computer graphi ...

have allowed him to make a fortune in

forex The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...

arbitrage In economics and finance, arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets; striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between the ...

; however, they also compel him to balance out the behaviors of the rest of the world by constantly performing seemingly-random acts of good and evil. This draws him into conflict, first with his secretary, and then with the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Reception

"The Pi Man" was a finalist for the 1960

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

.1960 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved May 6, 2018 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' considered it to be a "chilling masterpiece",VIRTUAL UNREALITIES: THE SHORT FICTION OF ALFRED BESTER
reviewed at ''

''; published November 14, 1997; retrieved May 6, 2018 and John Hertz has lauded it as "coruscating, gripping, (and) strange".Hertz: Time for Tea
by John Hertz, at

File 770 ''File 770'' is a long-running science fiction fanzine, newszine, and blog site published/administered by Mike Glyer. It has been published every year since 1978, and has won a record eight Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, with the first win in 1 ...

; published December 20, 2013; retrieved May 6, 2018 ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

'' has posited that Marko's abilities were the basis for the similar abilities of the protagonist in Bester's 1981 novel '' The Deceivers'',BESTER, ALFRED
by Peter Nicholls; at ''

'' (edited by

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

, Peter Nicholls, and

Graham Sleight Graham Sleight (born 1972) is a British writer, editor and critic, specialising in healthcare and science fiction. He is Head of Governance and Contracts at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and editor of the science fiction pee ...

. London: Gollancz, updated 16 January 2018; retrieved 6 May 2018 while

James Nicoll James Davis Nicoll (born March 18, 1961) is a Canadian freelance game and speculative fiction reviewer, former security guard and role-playing game store owner, and also works as a first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club. As a Usene ...

has noted that the story would work just as well if one assumes that Marko's "justifications for atrocity are insane delusions".Before he was a Psi-cop - Starlight: The Great Short Fiction of Alfred Bester
reviewed by

, at James Nicoll Reviews; published April 6, 2015; retrieved May 8, 2018 David N. Samuelson, writing in ''

Science Fiction Studies ''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fic ...

'', analyzed the story as

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's '' Islands of Space'' in the Novem ...

, and observed that it is based on "mathematical oddities" and "lacks a clear empirical base".A Softening of the Hard-Sf Concept
by David N. Samuelson, published in ''

'' #64 = Volume 21, Part 3 = November 1994; archived at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

References

External links

The Pi Man
at the

Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pi Man, The Short stories by Alfred Bester Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction