"I Do Not Desire Millions at the Risk of Wrecking the Economy"

"The Guy Who Remembered Ahead."

By Mack Reynolds (1917-83; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; and the SFE HERE).

First appearance: Bluebook, September 1954.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

   "In case you're slow with your arithmetic anybody who had a hundred-dollar bill and could name seven winners in a row without a miss could own just about all the green in the country."

"VIRTUOSO: a person who has exceptional skill, expertise, or talent at some endeavor." If individuals in music, singing, playing instruments, painting, or other specialized fields who show excellence can be praised as virtuosos, then why can't con men? A virtuoso like, say, the one in today's story . . .

Principal characters:

~ Throckmorton ("deep down I'm a sucker for guys with principle"), Mr. Perkins ("It was after my operation"), Pete ("I didn't know it was no weirdie, boss"), Joe Coty ("the kind of guy who wouldn't lie to his own wife"), and Mort Kessler ("He gives me a horse strictly from glue").

Typo: "Mork" Kessler.

Resources:

- Our first encounter with a Mack Reynolds story was ten years ago, "He Took It with Him" (HERE). Since then: "Dark Interlude" (with Fredric Brown) (HERE), two Solar Pons adventures (with August Derleth) (HERE), "Gun for Hire" (HERE), another Solar Pons (with August Derleth) (HERE), "My Best Friends Are Martians" (HERE), and "Mind Over Mayhem" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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