Jerry Sohl 18 min read

A booze-soaked feature writer, kicked off his newspaper, finds his true calling in circus life, thanks to an alien named Trlk.

Jerry Sohl's 1955 story is a wry 'booze-to-riches' tale narrated by a reporter turned circus attraction, crediting Trlk the Sybillian for his unlikely reinvention. Light, comic first-contact SF with a colorful voice. Read it for a genial golden-age story about a washed-up newsman who lands under the big top.

In its time

Published in 1955, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

18 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Sandy Kossin