# ID the SF short story, Part 993774588 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626 "2019-06-17T00:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/1 "2019-06-17T00:53:42Z")
This one has bugged me for years, but I can’t be arsed to ask Spider. So, I’ll ask you people. I read a story back in the 70s that I’m pretty sure had Spider’s pen name of D. B. Wyatt on it. It was a twist on the “Three Wishes” schtick, only this time the genie keeps giving Our Protagonist more wishes and none of them are booby traps. After a middling period Our Hero gets really bored and notices that the genie is having more fun with the wishes than he is. So he confronts the genie, gives up all his remaining wishes and asks to join the genie in messing up people’s lives. The genie then tells him “Welcome to Heaven. You’ve freely given up all you have with no thought of recompense, to go out and do good. Welcome.” Our Hero looks around, smells dope, sees a Chinese buffet and hears Janis riffing with Jimi and smiles. The End. What in the name of the Seven Buddhas is the title of that story and where can I find it? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/2 "2019-06-17T21:28:20Z")
Nobody? Guess I’ll have to bother Spider then. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/3 "2019-06-17T21:59:38Z")
I’m guessing that you are talking about Spider Robinson, but I’m [not finding info that he used the penname D.B. Wyatt](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22D.B.+Wyatt%22+spider&client=firefox-b-1-d&ei=gAwIXYXOEs-otQWq87TgDw&start=0&sa=N&ved=0ahUKEwiFjoOGwfHiAhVPVK0KHao5Dfw4FBDy0wMIUA&biw=1408&bih=703)? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/4 "2019-06-17T22:31:07Z")
Sorry, flipped the initials. It’s [B. D. Wyatt.](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?12661) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/5 "2019-06-18T01:28:30Z")
Silversmith Wishes by Robert Sheckley? ---
**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:** [June 18, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/6 "2019-06-18T03:04:19Z")
I thought I’d read just about everything Spider wrote, and this doesn’t sound familiar (here’s a list of Spider’s works [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?50](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?50)). The Sheckley could be right - the description excerpt here [Extrapolation - Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=E2kqAAAAYAAJ&q=Silversmith+Wishes+sheckley&dq=Silversmith+Wishes+sheckley&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT2-fehfLiAhUsT98KHWb6BgQQ6AEINjAC) sounds right, anyway ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/7 "2019-06-18T03:18:53Z")
That’s it! No wonder I couldn’t find it in any of Spider’s catalog. Now where in the hell did I get the idea Spider wrote it? eta: That also shows me where I read it - the May 1977 issue of Playboy. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-the-sf-short-story-part-993774588/835626/8 "2019-06-18T03:34:42Z")
It is found in the collection _The Robot Who Looked Like Me_. You can read it [here](http://parallelbook.ru/zhelaniya-silversmita-robert-shekli.html).