Star Light, Star Bright (short story)

Last updated
"Star Light, Star Bright"
Author Alfred Bester
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction
Published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Publication type magazine
Media type Print (Paperback)
Publication date July 1953

"Star Light, Star Bright" is a science fiction short story by Alfred Bester, first published in 1953.

Science fiction genre of fiction

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction, typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas".

Short story Brief work of literature, usually written in narrative prose

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood, however there are many exceptions to this.

Alfred Bester American science fiction author

Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, including The Demolished Man, winner of the inaugural Hugo Award in 1953.

Contents

Synopsis

Marion Perkin Warbeck, referred to as "the doomed man", has discovered children with supernatural powers, which he calls "genius". He is pursuing one Stuart Buchanan, a ten-year-old boy who he believes can lead him to these children. Warbeck is a school principal who read an essay by Stuart that describes his friends inventing gadgets beyond known science. When Warbeck attempted to find Stuart, not only had the boy disappeared but all records about him had vanished, and nobody who was closely involved with him remembered anything about him.

Warbeck tries to solve the mystery by going door to door in Stuart's old neighborhood, talking to people named "Buchanan" under various pretexts to avoid drawing attention to himself. He is waylaid by a gang that runs a fraud on people with that name, and has to explain his reasons to them to save his life. Once they understand that there might be a fortune to be made, they employ their own methods to track Stuart's family's sudden move to Brooklyn. However, as the gang conduct a search they disappear one by one. Warbeck is left calling Stuart's name in the street. Unknown to him, Stuart is participating in a game of hide-and-seek nearby. Hearing his name, he uses his "genius" to stay hidden.

Warbeck finds himself trapped on a "road cleaving infinitely through blackness". The boy wished to be left alone, and formally wished so with the "Star Light, Star Bright" nursery rhyme. The story closes by stating that Stuart unknowingly has a genius "for wishing".

"Star Light, Star Bright" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 16339.

The story describes a fraud known as the "Heirs of Buchanan", in which confidence tricksters approach people with the name "Buchanan" and offer them, for a fee, a chance to participate in the legacy of President James Buchanan, who is often believed to have died without leaving a will.

James Buchanan American politician, 15th President of the United States (in office from 1857 to 1861)

James Buchanan Jr. was an American politician who served as the 15th president of the United States (1857–1861), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 17th United States secretary of state and had served in the Senate and House of Representatives before becoming president.

References to real events

The Buchanan scam may be a fictionalized version of a fraud from the 1930s when families all over the country tried to participate in the supposed estate of one William Buchanan, who was believed to have owned valuable real estate in on which 99-year leases were about to expire. [1] The fraud was described in Reader's Digest for November 1935.

<i>Readers Digest</i> magazine

Reader's Digest is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace. For many years, Reader's Digest was the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States; it lost the distinction in 2009 to Better Homes and Gardens. According to Mediamark Research (2006), Reader's Digest reaches more readers with household incomes of $100,000+ than Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Inc. combined.

Publication history

"Star Light, Star Bright" was first published in the July 1953 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction . It was later included in several anthologies and Bester short story collections, including:

Star Light, Star Bright is the name of a 1976 collection of science fiction short stories by American wrtier Alfred Bester, first published in 1976.

<i>Virtual Unrealities</i> book by Alfred Bester

Virtual Unrealities is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Alfred Bester with an introduction by Robert Silverberg.

Sources

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References

  1. "The Heir Chasers".