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The Freelancer
This book "" The Freelancer "", has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.
- GenresShort Stories
22 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 2, 2016
What if free speech wasn't really free? What if every time someone said (for example) 'Good luck' to someone else they had to pay a fine for a violation of the Copyright Law On Verbal Speech? Wouldn't you be afraid to say anything at all? I know I would be!
This short story from 1955 is an odd combination of confusing, amusing, and disturbing. Confusing because when we first meet our hero Jeb, we are thrown into his life with no background. Jeb is a Monitor, but what does that mean? And his wife threatens to certify him unless he earns some decent credits. Why? What does it mean here to be certified?
These details are gradually explained as Jeb gets ready to leave for his work day. His wife wants a vacation; its been three years since the last one. So he buckles on his jet-pack and heads out into the commuter lanes to headquarters. Turns out Jeb is a professional eavesdropper with a gadget called a Monitex that automatically records any violations of that Copyright Law On Verbal Speech. Certain trite phrases set off the Monitex, the speaker has to pay a fine, and our Monitor gets a commission. But now he has only one day to earn enough credits to send his wife away on her vacation. That's right, her vacation. He is not allowed to go along.
And what about being certified? If any man does not earn enough credits to support his wife he has to go to the Welfare Office for help, which usually means assignment to a job involving manual labor. Who would want to go through that!?
Back to Jeb. Where is he going to overhear enough copyright violations to earn as many credits as he will need to give his wife the vacation she wants? Most phrases he hears in the first few hours of his shift are only worth 10 or 20 credits apiece. He needs a lot more than that. Where can he go?
As I said, this was a mixture of a story. Clever in some ways, funny more than once, but as I went along it started feeling creepier. Perhaps the author was annoyed with his wife the day he wrote this. That could explain the resentment and animosity towards women here. Of course, Zacks was writing in 1955 when men were men and women weren't supposed to be much of anything. There is one other title by Zacks at Gutenerg. I am curious to see if it will have the same feel to it.
This short story from 1955 is an odd combination of confusing, amusing, and disturbing. Confusing because when we first meet our hero Jeb, we are thrown into his life with no background. Jeb is a Monitor, but what does that mean? And his wife threatens to certify him unless he earns some decent credits. Why? What does it mean here to be certified?
These details are gradually explained as Jeb gets ready to leave for his work day. His wife wants a vacation; its been three years since the last one. So he buckles on his jet-pack and heads out into the commuter lanes to headquarters. Turns out Jeb is a professional eavesdropper with a gadget called a Monitex that automatically records any violations of that Copyright Law On Verbal Speech. Certain trite phrases set off the Monitex, the speaker has to pay a fine, and our Monitor gets a commission. But now he has only one day to earn enough credits to send his wife away on her vacation. That's right, her vacation. He is not allowed to go along.
And what about being certified? If any man does not earn enough credits to support his wife he has to go to the Welfare Office for help, which usually means assignment to a job involving manual labor. Who would want to go through that!?
Back to Jeb. Where is he going to overhear enough copyright violations to earn as many credits as he will need to give his wife the vacation she wants? Most phrases he hears in the first few hours of his shift are only worth 10 or 20 credits apiece. He needs a lot more than that. Where can he go?
As I said, this was a mixture of a story. Clever in some ways, funny more than once, but as I went along it started feeling creepier. Perhaps the author was annoyed with his wife the day he wrote this. That could explain the resentment and animosity towards women here. Of course, Zacks was writing in 1955 when men were men and women weren't supposed to be much of anything. There is one other title by Zacks at Gutenerg. I am curious to see if it will have the same feel to it.
February 25, 2017
This is a cute, soft science fiction story very much in the H. L. Gold tradition. It's very 1950s. The humor doesn't survive into the current century well. Some will say the writing is misogynistic, but in my opinion accusing a 1950s genre writer of misogyny is akin to calling a caveman primitive, or a poet sensitive. "Really? You don't say." Oh no, I was just fined 60 credits!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews