Evelyn E. Smith 15 min read

Reluctant, anti-social Professor Narli Gzann is badgered by his friend into attending a vilbar party thrown in his honor, a farewell fete he'd very much rather skip, frismil nut in hand.

Evelyn E. Smith's 1955 story is a wry, charming first-contact and social-SF comedy. Fun, witty golden-age SF. Read it for a delightful tale of alien academics and their social rituals, where a grumpy professor's farewell party takes an unexpected turn, in a genial, good-humored golden-age piece full of Smith's light comic touch.

In its time

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

Reading it

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

Illustrated by

Sandy Kossin