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If There Were No Benny Cemoli

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"If There Were No Benny Cemoli"
Short story by Philip K. Dick
December 1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science-fiction
Publication
Published inGalaxy Science Fiction
Publication typeMagazine
Publication date1963

"If There Were No Benny Cemoli" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the December, 1963 issue of Galaxy magazine with illustration by Lutjens.[1]

"The Proxmen rebuilding war-torn Earth want to prosecute its leaders for war crimes. Benny Cemoli would be the biggest catch of all, if they could just find him. -- Steven Owen Godersky[1]

Plot summary

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On the tenth anniversary of a devastating atomic war on Earth, more Proxima Centaurians arrive to continue the rebuilding of the planet. A war crimes tribunal is looking for names of war criminals and a surviving homeopape of The New York Times seems to provide an answer. Benny Cemoli.

Themes

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Per Darko Suvin, "If There Were No Benny Cemoli" has the theme of the "transformation or transubstantiation of classical European fascism into new American power".[2]

Reception

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Algis Budrys said that Dick's story "is, as usual, markedly individual, and distinguished for his ability to draw fine-line social caricatures paradoxically freighted with verisimilitude".[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Levack, Daniel (1981). PKD: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography, Underwood/Miller, p. 100. ISBN 0-934438-33-1
  2. ^ Suvin, Darko (March 1975). "P.K. Dick's Opus: Artifice as Refuge and World View (Introductory Reflections)". Science Fiction Studies. 2 (1): 8–22. JSTOR 4238905 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ Budrys, Algis (August 1965). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 186–194.

Further reading

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