Saturday, February 6, 2021

"Smedley Swung the Club"

"(The) First Time Machine."
By Fredric Brown (1906-72).
First appearance: EQMM, September 1955.
Reprinted in EQMM (Australia), November 1955 and EQMM (U.K.), January 1956, and elsewhere. (FictionMags data.)
Reprints page (HERE).
Short short short story (1 page).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE).
     "Maybe I couldn't have — because it would have changed the past."

Revenge and time machines—they just don't mix . . . .

Main characters:
~ Dr. Grainger:
  "That's the old paradox of time travel, you know."
~ Smedley:
  "I've heard of that paradox, too."

Resources:
- Alfred Bester also had some fun with the downside of time travel; see (HERE).
- Our latest exposure to Fredric Brown (ISFDb HERE) was another one of his short short shorts just last month, "Unfortunately" (HERE).
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