Name that book?

[Pulpmeister]

Not a book, a short story: it was called Tropical Disturbance, I am fairly sure, was set in Florida, and the PI hero was, again I think, Oscar Sail (or Sale). But I don't know who wrote it, nor if that PI appeared in any other stories. I am sure I read it in EQMM in the 60s or 70s, ad it has stuck in my mind ever since. I even remember an excellent simile, if not word-perfectly, as a said tropical disturbance encounters a yacht: "the head-sail went to pieces with a sound like cats fighting."

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by Pulpmeister

Not a book, a short story: it was called Tropical Disturbance, I am fairly sure, was set in Florida, and the PI hero was, again I think, Oscar Sail (or Sale). But I don't know who wrote it, nor if that PI appeared in any other stories. I am sure I read it in EQMM in the 60s or 70s, ad it has stuck in my mind ever since. I even remember an excellent simile, if not word-perfectly, as a said tropical disturbance encounters a yacht: "the head-sail went to pieces with a sound like cats fighting."

Lester Dent, Angelfish is an alternative title.

[Pulpmeister]

Many thanks! That's the one.

[bfisher]

I'm trying to recall the name of an espionage novel that I read about forty years ago. I think the author was British. The protagonist was drawn as a Philby-Burgess-Maclean character. Only at the very end of the book is it revealed that he is actually a defector to the west, now facing the dreariness of official entertainment ( a Minister of Fisheries banquet ) in wintertime Ottawa.

[Manabi]

I'm looking for a short story. It was set in a future where the USSR and the USA fended off actual wars with each other by having an Olympic-style war game every so many years. The catch there is the games are actual war, the participants are killing and being killed. These games take place in a large arena and are broadcast on TV complete with commentators. The story follows a young man chosen to be in the war game for the USA. He's brainwashed into being an efficient killer and ends up winning the game for the USA in a come-from-behind victory.

After the win he's deprogrammed and sent home. He's now a national hero and, quite literally, above the law. He can walk into stores and take whatever he wants. The government will come in afterwards and reimburse the store owners for what he took. After a while of being feted he grows bored. The story ends with him going into the next door neighbor's house and heading upstairs to their daughter's bedroom. As she starts screaming, the story ends with "The war had come home for the Joneses."

I may have some details incorrect. It may have not been explicitly the USSR and USA, but it was obviously meant to be them. And I'm pretty certain I have the family name wrong in the ending quote. I'd like to reread the story sometime and check out the author's other fiction.

[Witty Username]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I'm looking for a short story. It was set in a future where the USSR and the USA fended off actual wars with each other by having an Olympic-style war game every so many years. The catch there is the games are actual war, the participants are killing and being killed. These games take place in a large arena and are broadcast on TV complete with commentators. The story follows a young man chosen to be in the war game for the USA. He's brainwashed into being an efficient killer and ends up winning the game for the USA in a come-from-behind victory.

After the win he's deprogrammed and sent home. He's now a national hero and, quite literally, above the law. He can walk into stores and take whatever he wants. The government will come in afterwards and reimburse the store owners for what he took. After a while of being feted he grows bored. The story ends with him going into the next door neighbor's house and heading upstairs to their daughter's bedroom. As she starts screaming, the story ends with "The war had come home for the Joneses."

I may have some details incorrect. It may have not been explicitly the USSR and USA, but it was obviously meant to be them. And I'm pretty certain I have the family name wrong in the ending quote. I'd like to reread the story sometime and check out the author's other fiction.

The Survivor by Walter F Moudy ISFDB page here.

The story is available to read here.

(I hope that's a legal blog post.)

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

The Survivor by Walter F Moudy

ISFDB page

Thank you, that's it!

[WT Sharpe]

It must have been around 50 years ago that I read this book, and ever since I get it confused with others. All I remember is that it involved a space alien who came to Earth and transformed society by, among other things, teaching people mind control. The scene that remains uppermost in my mind occurs, I believe, near the end of the book and describes an office where people are walking around in a state of bliss, one fellow's pack of cigarettes floating behind him and following him as he walks about.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

It must have been around 50 years ago that I read this book, and ever since I get it confused with others. All I remember is that it involved a space alien who came to Earth and transformed society by, among other things, teaching people mind control. The scene that remains uppermost in my mind occurs, I believe, near the end of the book and describes an office where people are walking around in a state of bliss, one fellow's pack of cigarettes floating behind him and following him as he walks about.

Robert A. Heinlein - "Stranger in a Strange Land"

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Gudy

Robert A. Heinlein - "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Thank you! That rings a bell. I'll check it out right away, but I'm pretty sure you're right.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Gudy

Robert A. Heinlein - "Stranger in a Strange Land"

That is indeed the one!

Caxton left and a package of cigarettes followed him, placed itself in one of his pockets.

Karma coming your way!

[HarryT]

It's surprising how no SF authors of the 50s and 60s predicted a future in which smoking would be about as socially desirable as leprosy .

[DrNefario]

My first thought was Stranger - I read it for the first time fairly recently - but I didn't remember the cigarette thing at all.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's surprising how no SF authors of the 50s and 60s predicted a future in which smoking would be about as socially desirable as leprosy .

Star Trek, I thought Roddenberry was well against it.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Star Trek, I thought Roddenberry was well against it.

Yeah, that's one of the things that makes ST IV such a great movie--back in the 80's, the manager of the aluminum foundry has a button proudly proclaiming "I quit smoking", like 4" across!

This is the one time travel movie that feels like it's actually time travel. I warp back to the 80's whenever I watch it.