Randall Garrett Robert Silverberg 51 min read

When the body starts wearing out, why not buy spare parts? A new heart, a new liver, and, for the right customer, a whole new companion, courtesy of Bodies, Inc.

Randall Garrett and Robert Silverberg's 1956 story is a wry hard-SF and social-SF tale. Clever, engaging golden-age SF. Read it for a witty story built on the tantalizing idea of replacement organs and made-to-order bodies, from two future masters at the start of their careers, in a light, inventive golden-age piece with a sly twist.

In its time

Published in 1956, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

51 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Virgil Finlay