Walden Planet and Other Stories

Wise-cracking robots, slow-motion bullets, time machines that don't work the way they're supposed to, evil holograms, androids with brain donors, a truth-telling plague with multicolor symptoms, a man who carries four watches and a bad punch line... these are the curious, sometimes disturbing, but always intriguing fantasies of Richard Zwicker, a small-town New England school teacher by day and droll dreamer after dark. In this first collection of Zwicker's short stories now available to dreamers everywhere, Walden Planet introduces imagined worlds: A forward-looking adventurer encounters a dimension of people who do everything backwards; a desperate woman travels sideways into a parallel universe to regain what she's lost; a hard-boiled detective finds a phone that can dial the future; a doctor with a conscience considers applicants lined up for a quick 'n' easy memory cleanser; long-distance space haulers battle big-time cabin fever and a tempting cargo; and - of course - the title story's character: a would-be writer maroons himself on desolate planet because he's read too much Thoreau. Sure, the narrator of a certain, popular space-western TV show has promised to take you "Where no man has gone before," but Zwicker's stories are a whole 'nother rodeo - so, saddle up, everyone, and take your time-space motion-sickness pills. We're about to push the button and... Reactions from inhabitants of Walden Planet: "...So funny, I forgot to laugh." - Android L10W227 (a.k.a., "Mort") "I think he's stealing brain data." - Erika Henniker, android transformation counselor "What kind of a gag is this?" - Detective Terry Marselle "Can't you just trust me, you dumb bastard?" - Niles Castle, Wellman State science professor "We see this as an opportunity." - Robots for Reintegration with Humans "It must have seemed like a good idea at the time." - Ned Baylor, interstellar hauler "You won't be disappointed." - Ralph Flynn, playboy and real estate developer