Little Boy

Bixby, Jerome, 1923-1998Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 30K 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.Little Boy by Jerome BixbyAuthor: Bixby, Jerome, 1923-1998,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 21, 2019

Editor's review

"Little Boy" is a short story by the American science fiction writer Jerome Bixby; this edition is the English public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg. Bixby is known for tightly constructed short science fiction with surprise endings, and this story revolves around a device called "Little Boy," setting the extraordinary against ordinary family life and creating unease and reversal within everyday scenes—a characteristic of mid-twentieth-century short science fiction, which often used a single small premise to pry open a much larger question. It is short and plainly written, making it very suitable as an introductory sample of English-language short science fiction and convenient for quick group reading in class or at a book club. Note that this edition is an electronic text of the English original, with no Chinese translation or notes; readers whose English reading is not yet proficient may need supporting tools. As a public-domain resource it is easy to search and cite, but version information is limited, so it should not be treated as a definitive edition with scholarly introduction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy short science fiction and prefer surprise endings
Beginner to intermediate language learners who want to practice English reading with short texts
Teachers of English or science fiction courses who need short texts as classroom discussion material
Enthusiasts interested in the trajectory of mid-twentieth-century American short science fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who read only Chinese and do not yet engage with English originals
Science fiction readers who prefer long works with complete worldbuilding and complex setups
Readers who need scholarly notes, author chronologies, and other research materials

Reading tips

Read it straight through first, then go back to details at the beginning and appreciate how the short story's reversal reorganizes what came before.
English learners can read it in two passes: the first for plot, the second to look up new words and organize sentence patterns.
After reading, compare it with other short stories by the same author or contemporary short science fiction, and discuss how it is constructed.
If used in class, design discussion questions around the juxtaposition of the everyday and the abnormal.

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 story in Chinese or English?

According to Project Gutenberg information, this e-book edition is in English: the English original of the short story, without Chinese translation. Chinese readers who find English reading difficult can use a dictionary or a parallel translation for support.

Is it long, and what reading pace suits it?

It is a short story, brief in length, usually readable in one or two sittings. It suits reading straight through in spare moments, and also works as short material for quick group reading and discussion in class or at a book club.

Is the Gutenberg edition suitable for scholarly citation?

This edition is a free public-domain electronic text. It is easy to obtain and search, but it generally lacks scholarly notes, edition information, and author materials. For formal research, check authoritative editions and supplement the relevant bibliographic information.

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About the author

Bixby, Jerome, 1923-1998 Author

Jerome Bixby (1923–1998) was an American science fiction writer, though public information about him is limited. Nine of his works are held in this collection, including The Draw, Where There's Hope, The God-Plllnk, Zen, The Holes Around Mars, Little Boy, Laboratory and Our Town. Judging from these titles, he wrote mainly short science fiction, often building his imaginative premises around space exploration, strange devices and everyday settings. His titles tend to carry an ironic or suspenseful edge, and his narratives are concise, frequently closing with an unexpected twist. Among his stories, It's a Good Life became widely known through its television adaptation, but since that piece is not included here, it is not discussed further. On the whole, Bixby belonged to the mid-twentieth-century circle of American short science fiction writers; his output was modest, yet he was noted for ingenious conceptions and clean, brisk storytelling, and he exerted some influence on later short science fiction.