| "If There Were No Benny Cemoli" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Philip K. Dick | |
 December 1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science-fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Galaxy Science Fiction |
| Publication type | Magazine |
| Publication date | 1963 |
"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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- ^ a b Levack, Daniel (1981). PKD: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography, Underwood/Miller, p. 100. ISBN 0-934438-33-1
- ^ 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.
- ^ Budrys, Algis (August 1965). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 186–194.
Further reading[edit]
- Warrick, Patricia S (Summer 1979). "The Labyrinthian Process of the Artificial: Dick's Androids and Mechanical Constructs". Extrapolation. 20 (2): 133–153. doi:10.3828/extr.1979.20.2.133.
External links[edit]
- If There Were No Benny Cemoli title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "If There Were No Benny Cemoli" on the Internet Archive
