Bread Overhead

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Bread Overhead by Fritz LeiberAuthor: Leiber, Fritz, 1910-1992,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 11, 2007

Editor's review

This is a short science-fiction work by Fritz Leiber, prepared as a free e-book by Project Gutenberg. Leiber is known for imagination and satire; this piece centers on automated food production, using an exaggerated industrial setting to explore the tension between efficiency, consumption, and technology out of control. It is short but leaves much to ponder. Its value lies not in a grand premise but in the light narrative that pushes the anxieties behind technological optimism to the reader's attention, making it a good sample of mid-twentieth-century American science-fiction short stories. The electronic edition can be finished in fragments of time such as a commute or lunch break and works well as discussion material for a science-fiction book club or English extensive reading. Note that this is the original English public-domain text, with no Chinese translation or notes, so the reading experience depends on the reader's English level.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want a quick introduction to classic English-language science-fiction short stories
Science-fiction fans who enjoy satire on technological issues
English learners who need extensive reading material
Organizers of science-fiction book clubs looking for short discussion texts

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation and would rather not consult a dictionary
Readers who expect a long world-building and complex character arcs
Readers unaccustomed to the pacing of early science fiction

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then again to note the satirical details about the production process
When you meet unfamiliar words, guess from context first and look them up together after finishing, so as not to break the rhythm
After reading, sum up the story's core conflict in three sentences for book-club discussion
Read alongside other short stories on automation to see how different authors handle the same theme

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is the original English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, with English text and no Chinese translation or translator's notes; some English reading ability is needed.

Is it long? How long does it take to finish?

It is a short work and the e-book is not long; readers who read English smoothly can usually finish it in one or two sittings, and it suits reading in fragments of time.

Do I need to know the author's other works first?

No. This work can be read on its own without prior knowledge of Leiber's other writing; if it interests you, you can go on to explore his other science-fiction short stories.

Is it suitable for English learning?

It can serve as extensive reading material, but it is a literary work, not a teaching text, with no vocabulary lists or exercises. Focus on understanding the plot and the feel of the language rather than reading word by word.

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About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. Author · American · 1910–1992

Fritz Leiber (1910–1992) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, born in Chicago to parents who were both Shakespearean actors. His work spans several genres, with representative titles including The Big Time, Yesterday House, A Bad Day for Sales, The Moon Is Green, and A Pail of Air, as well as the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sword-and-sorcery series created with Harry Fischer. He excelled at injecting the grotesque and the fearful into everyday settings, combining cool social satire with sharp imagination and a witty, dramatic prose style. Leiber won the Hugo Award six times and the Nebula Award three times, and in 1981 was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, leaving a lasting influence on later genre literature.