# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 48
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/941 "2022-05-14T09:48:01Z")
_Pay For The Printer_, by Philip K. Dick? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/942 "2022-05-14T12:07:53Z")
Sounds like it > **[Pay for the Printer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_for_the_Printer)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > "Pay for the Printer" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Satellite Science Fiction, in October 1956. Manuscript dated January 28, 1954. > > In a war-ravaged future, humanity has come to depend on an alien species known as the Biltongs, possessed of the ability to replicate items identically – although the copies only last for a short time. When the Biltongs become decrepit, the humans are fo... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/943 "2022-05-14T15:38:12Z")
There’s a similar story by Murray Leinster (best known for “A Logic Named Joe”). In his story, a society invents “duplicators”, that can duplicate anything given raw materials containing the right elements, and it leads to the downfall of their civilization: All other industry is replaced by the duplicators, and nobody knows how to rebuild it once the flaws in the duplicators become evident. For one thing, they can’t store a pattern, just duplicate an object as it is right now, so eventually the originals used as templates wear out, decay, or otherwise age into uselessness. For another, a lot of items contain trace amounts of various elements, and are much lower quality without them, like steel without the right alloying materials. And when a duplicator itself breaks down, nobody knows how to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/944 "2022-05-14T17:57:47Z")
Yes, I think it’s _Pay for the Printer_: I know I read some of his stories. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/945 "2022-05-14T17:59:58Z")
There was a story, an Asimov story, I think, about a family that stays far away from water. It turns out it’s because they’re made of sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/946 "2022-05-14T18:02:58Z")
Yes, it’s Asimov’s [_Rain, Rain, Go Away_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain,_Rain,_Go_Away_(short_story)) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/947 "2022-05-14T22:05:40Z")
The appropiately named Sakkaro family IIRC ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/948 "2022-05-15T04:06:36Z")
That’s it. There was another one about a group of children who lived on a planet where the sun came out once every several years. They had to stand semi-clothed in front of UV lamps every day. They had a child with them who’d apparently come from Earth and said he remembered the Sun being out every day, but no one believed him, or they were jealous. They locked him in a closet or something and when the sun came out they forgot about him and reveled in the sunshine. By the time he was able to get out, the years-long rain had returned. I’m not sure if this was literature but I definitely remember a live-action version of this. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/949 "2022-05-15T04:12:37Z")
_All Summer In A Day_, by Ray Bradbury? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/950 "2022-05-15T04:48:42Z")
That is the single most requested ID ever. It’s been asked at least twice before in this thread alone, (post #15, #71) and numerous times on other threads, and other forums. It’s amazing how many people remember the story, but not the title. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/951 "2022-05-15T06:20:20Z")
Interesting that that seems to be a frequent story ID. I did the FAQ on rec.arts.sf-lovers way back in the 80s-90s and it wasn’t in it as a common question. Instead, another Bradbury story, _A Sound of Thunder_ was a frequent ID request along with only one other story which I can’t remember. I think it may have been _The Star_ by A C Clarke. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/952 "2022-05-15T07:03:33Z")
Children’s book (or at least young adult novel) I read in elementary school in the 1980s, but it was a full length novel about a teenage boy who’s home when a nuclear bomb detonates over his small town and devastates it. His father in a Doctor and the hospital is still standing but his father is completely overwhelmed by all the people dying of radiation poisoning. I believe in the ending the teenage boy gets a radio signal after the EMP starts to wear off and finds out it was a one-off hit, a Soviet satellite carrying a nuclear warhead got accidentally deorbited and detonates over his town, and so the teen at least knows help will be coming. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/953 "2022-05-15T11:39:51Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > That is the single most requested ID ever. I suspect that the reason that it’s so commonly requested is that it appears in a lot of high school literature anthologies (and possibly even literature anthologies for elementary school students). Because of this, a lot of people read it during their teenage years but read nothing else by Bradbury or even much other science fiction. Then decades later they vaguely remember the plot but nothing about the author or the title. I’ve been trying to confirm that it appears in a lot of high school literature anthologies, but I can’t find anything to prove it. Does anyone know of any website with lists of high school literature anthologies and their contents? Yes, I’ve checked the list of places where the story appears on the ISFDb. The URL for the ISFDb list was already posted once by Andy\_L in this thread, but I’m giving it again so you don’t have to search through this entire thread to find this URL. ([http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?58363](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?58363)). However, the ISFDb doesn’t list appearances of stories in anthologies which aren’t specifically science fiction, fantasy, or horror anthologies or collections by a single author. I don’t know how to search for appearances of a story in other sorts of anthologies (including high school literature anthologies). Does anyone know how to find all the appearances of a story in all books? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/954 "2022-05-15T12:02:39Z")
You certainly can find a lot of material about teaching “All Summer in a Day” to students (like this > **[Teaching All Summer in a Day](https://www.activelylearn.com/catalog-text/teaching-all-summer-in-a-day)** > > The entire text of "Teaching All Summer in a Day" with embedded questions aligned to Common Core and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) as well as scaffolding notes and media. for example), suggesting that it’s taught a lot. Another possible vector for this story is school magazines like “The Weekly Reader” > **[Weekly Reader](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_Reader)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Weekly Reader was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as My Weekly Reader. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed-issues in older grade levels. The publishing company also created workbooks, literacy centers, and picture books for younger grades. > In 2012, Weekly Reader ceased operations as an independent publication and merge... I’m not sure if I read “All Summer in a Day” in that magazine, but I know I read “Arena” (by Fred Brown) in that, and also some other SF (such as “Battleground” by Stephen King). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/955 "2022-05-15T17:10:03Z")
Here’s a book for seventh graders that contains the story “All Summer in a Day” (in Chapter 3): > **[filedownload.ashx](https://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=11704&dataid=264300&FileName=7th%20Grade%20Science%20book.pdf)** > > 48.02 MB Here’s a “curriculum writing project” (whatever that is) for sixth graders to eighth graders that twice includes “All Summer in a Day” as an" instructional resource" (whatever that is): > **[ELA\_Grades\_6-8\_Curriculum\_2012.pdf](https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1500907/ELA_Grades_6-8_Curriculum_2012.pdf)** > > 655.89 KB And there must be a lot of other things for elementary school students that contain it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/956 "2022-05-15T17:51:12Z")
I know I had to read it in school, and we wrote essays on it for a citywide competition (so apparently, a bunch of other schools were reading it, too). My essay was one of the finalists, for which my prize was a copy of The Martian Chronicles. Bradbury’s an excellent writer, but by God, he’s depressing. I never was able to make it all the way through that book. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/957 "2022-05-15T18:01:15Z")
Bradbury didn’t consider himself to be any sort of predictor of the future. He was writing about attitudes in society, not about technology, and he was interested in people’s attitudes too. He never went to college and was not an expert in science at all. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/958 "2022-05-15T18:52:26Z")
I’d also guess that the PBS television adaptation, which is sometimes shown in classes, might have to do with the popularity of the question. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of the people asking remember the story from the TV presentation rather than from reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/959 "2022-05-15T19:23:55Z")
Never saw the adaptation of it, but I remember reading it in my teens - on my own and not as a school assignment, I think. I read a _lot_ of Bradbury back then. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/960 "2022-05-15T23:58:06Z")
I’m trying to find a short story that I read in the 1970’s but likely written in ‘The Golden Age’ [yes, I was 14 in 1969…] - the setup was a mile-high skyscraper in a US city during an economic downturn - our feckless hero discovers that the abandoned uppermost floors have been colonized by alien merchant adventurers. Access to upper floors is by ‘drop tube’? with subway style hanger-ons. I have no memory of plot, as such - it might have been a short-short setting up for an absurd punchline or pun. No, it’s NOT ‘[Reunion at the Mile High](http://www.uchronia.net/bib.cgi/label.html?id=pohlreunio)’, although I suspect Pohl is making a sly reference to the earlier work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=47) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=49)