The Day Of The Burning

by Barry N. Malzberg

The earth's fate lies in the hands of George Mercer, a neurotic employee in New York's Department of Welfare who has been granted twelve hours to prove to the "Overlords" that the planet should not be destroyed. Reprint.

Genres: Science Fiction

Paperback

First published October 1, 1974

About the author

Barry Nathaniel Malzberg was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.

He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this 1974 novel set in near-future 1981, Malzberg revisits the idea of an unbalanced and unreliable person being charged with the duty of proving humanity worthy of being admitted into the Galactic Federation by highly advanced aliens who are going to destroy Earth in twelve hours if he's unsuccessful. It's a somewhat paranoid and claustrophobic story which worked well the first time or two around, but I felt that he wrote the same book several times with no real difference between one and the next, and it grew a little tired this time out. I think my original Ace printing of this one has the silliest of all of his covers.

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read and reviewed a Malzberg book in the last month, so I will do a little bit of history and background as I normally do. I suppose you could be reading this review without having read my others so I am going to have to review some of that. If you are old school fan of the 60s and 70s new wave then I don’t need to tell you. It seems like the man published a thousand books so somebody was reading him.

For a few years there Malzberg was falling out of the memory of the science fiction scene. As a lover of the weird and political SF, I didn’t hear his name until I was in a used book in Victoria Canada when I first heard of him. shout-out to the late great bookseller Robert Garfat who convinced me to buy Malzberg’s classic Beyond Apollo when I asked him if he had any Norman Spinrad.

Since that day in 2007, the amount of respect given to this incredible author has steadily increased. Anti-Oedipus Press has re-issued four of Malzberg’s classic novels and more are on the way. Author Laird Barron listed his story Transfer as one of his top ten horror stories of all time. Book Pilled the very popular Book-tubers has recently reviewed a few of Malzberg’s novels and called him one of his new favorite authors. In our small way, The Dickheads just recorded our third Malzberg episode, two of which are rare interviews this time, and we got him on Zoom! (watch-out for Dickheads on SoundCloud and YouTube for the new one.)

I don’t really think you pin down what a Malzberg book feels like to read. He was a surreal writer at times, who told us he would add rocket ships in his stories if they needed to sell. I would compare his writing to JG Ballard. The reason he is not as respected or considered high literature. It doesn’t hurt Ballard that Spielberg made a movie of his autobiography, and two major films based on his work. Malzberg has no Crash, Blade Runner or I Am Legend for the normies to say oh OK I know that.

The Day of Burning is not even as known in SF circles as Malzberg classics so I kinda chose it at random because it was short and I could digest it quickly before we had Barry on the Zoom call. It is not as biting as some of his novels like Beyond Apollo which is a scathing look at the space program and makes clear how insane the idea of going out into space is. Destruction of the Temple is a scathing look at American culture during the era when three major figures were assassinated in public. In contrast, The Day of the Burning is a funny book. It is not Douglas Adams funny, but it was certainly a comedy peppered with intense political messaging.

One of a couple of novels inspired by a few years working at a welfare office in New Jersey it is certainly a case of writing what you know. The main character is George who finds one of his co-workers Bowman just happens to be a Galactic Overlord. When he decides to reveal this they have a series of hilarious conversations.

“You mean in other words, you mean all along you’ve been an alien from another planet or universe on a mission of observation and now your going to come to the point and tell me what you’ve been after all along.”
“Don’t confuse planets and universes.”

Inspired by Barry’s day job making decisions on who got welfare benefits and not the Galactic Overlords sent Bowman to watch George and determine if the human race was worthy to live. It all appears to come down to how he handles one family.

The absolute best part of the novel is the news reports from the “all-news stations” The rambling news reports say so much that I think that is the reason to read the book. Those chapters have a little prophecy going on even all-news network in 1974. I could three pages straight from 104-107 but let's just do this little tidbit because it is something we need to talk about.

“The all-news station is nothing if not deeply involved with the human condition. They manifest human concern, a wide range of special interest stories competing with the Venus expedition for placement in the cycle of events. A panel has been convened in Oregon to discuss and evaluate the causes of rioting in the seven cities last month…”

The novel takes place in 1981 just seven years after it is published so no way anyone could foresee a future (even science fictional) where our astronauts when be heading to Venus or Mars. I overthought it a bit – Is this a surreal alternate universe? I asked Barry and he shrugged and said, “I was adding rocket ships.” It is fine but it did take me out of the narrative just a little bit.
Even though he has the character in the first person narrative saying I know this is out of nowhere the very detailed sex scenes just really didn’t fit here.

The Day of the Burning is not the best Malzberg, but it is a fun and interesting read. Different and unique not the product you would read from anyone else. That said I don’t think it is one you should move heaven and earth to find. It would be a used copy and that doesn’t help Barry. So if you are wondering which Malzberg to read start with the titles published by Anti-Oedipus Press.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An employee of the NYC department of welfare is privately informed by a higher alien power that he is to represent the entire Earth and justify it's entry into the Galactic Federation. He's got 12 hours to do it or else the planet is destroyed in fire. Let's show the aliens all the folks on welfare! That'll save us. Or is he just going nuts?

Thinking of reading this one again soon.

[Alex F. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the survival of life on Earth depended on a solitary social worker's epic struggle to enroll a Latino family for unemployment benefits... would we pass or perish?

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short 1974 novel is a sequel to the author’s first novel published under his own name, 1972’s Beyond Apollo. It is far, far better, in my opinion. Maybe I should have given this five stars.

The narrator, a caseworker (“investigator”) for The Center — New York City’s welfare bureau — is given a problem file, a family on assistance who may or may not qualify for said assistance, since there are questions about “past maintenance.” Mercer, the narrator, hates the supervisor who wants him to deny the family’s claims, but has bigger problems on his mind: he is haunted by an annoying being he calls “Lucas,” someone that only he can see and hear. And it turns out this Lucas is — “he” “says” — a representatives for the Galactic Overlords, and they have randomly selected our narrator to be given a test, upon which the fate of our planet rests. Should he succeed, humanity becomes part of the galactic community in good standing; should he fail, well, then comes the event of the title, The Day of the Burning.

Meanwhile, there are regular reports about a problematic mission to Venus, events of which are told by the similarly hapless sexual lunatic, the ultra-unreliable narrator of Beyond Apollo. These reports are the best part of the novel, providing regular comic intermezzi in the continuing story of our guide through 1981 New York.

Written in the mid-70s, 1981 was the future, then. It’s the past now, and very different a past it is. Thus does futuristic sf become alternative history. Time transmogrifies genres.

What makes this book work better than the earlier — I insist it is, though no one else appears to agree — is that it is easier to follow, funnier, and its premises are set up to greater effect. It works better as satire, because the focus is on two State endeavors, one lofty (the space program) and the other lowly (welfare assistance). Both are probed and pilloried.

And the nut-case at the center of the story, Mr. Mercer, is somewhat more mildly nutty than the mad astronaut of the earlier effort, and the setting — a city bureaucracy — is more easily relatable and all-too-humanly dysfunctional.

A comparison with Philip K. Dick is inevitable. Malzberg is quite obviously the better writer qua writer, though his sticking to a first person technique gives him an easy up: Dick almost invariably chose the tougher task of multiple-character third person narrative, too often failing. The Day of the Burning, on the other hand, is classically proportioned and thematically tight. Mercer, like a Dick anti-hero, is a professional and social failure with sexual problems, including a psychologically repellent (nagging) lover, as he fully confesses. But his narration raises him in the reader’s sympathies — at least it did mine — despite the obvious interpretation: he is as mad as a helmeted hatter.

I suspect that the reason this novel is not well known is that it too effectively took on the welfare state. Few sf enthusiasts who glory in New Wave literature would likely accept a double critique of both high and low statism. For me, of course, this is as natural as a Stoic ideal or an Epicurean evasion. Malzberg is in danger of becoming my favorite sf writer.

[Matt Chinworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Malzberg. He has a hard to pin down style and I’m definitely interested in reading him some more. It’s almost as if the sci-fi slant was unnecessary. The fact that aliens are looming and threatening impending doom to the planet seemed secondary to the book’s story. Which in a way is brilliant because humanity often behaves and operates as if we are already doomed.

[Bart Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read quite a few Malzberg short stories over the years, but only a couple of his novels. I think this book reminded me as to why. His short stories are interesting reads, but so far the novels leave quite a bit to be desired.

[Adam Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Malzberg is, of course, a genius. But this is a sloppy first draft that feels written in a day. But he’s still a genius.