Rough Beast

Roger Dolphus AycockProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 23K words
Chapters: 3

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.Rough Beast by Roger D. AycockAuthor: Aycock, Roger D., 1914-2004,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 5, 2015

Editor's review

Rough Beast is a short work of American literature by Roger D. Aycock (1914–2004), released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg and classified under American and Canadian literature. Judging from the title and the author's active years, it carries the flavor of mid-twentieth-century American genre fiction and is short enough to read in one sitting or a few. As a public-domain electronic text, its value lies in offering a window into the narrative tastes of popular fiction of the period and in making it easy for fans of science fiction or genre literature to find and read by theme. Since the available information provides only cataloguing details, readers should focus on the text itself—character setup and plot development—rather than presuppose extensive background knowledge. It suits segmented reading during commutes or spare moments; afterward, one might jot brief notes on the symbolic meaning of the "beast."

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy mid-twentieth-century American genre short stories
Office workers who want to read public-domain English short stories in spare moments
Literature fans interested in early science fiction or fantasy
Learners who need short texts for English extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a long, continuous narrative experience
Readers who prefer Chinese translations and do not want to read the English original
Readers expecting detailed author biographies and work analyses

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then revisit how the title and ending echo each other.
Read in segments during commutes or spare moments, finishing one complete passage each time.
Mark unfamiliar English expressions while reading and look them up afterward to build vocabulary.
If interested in genre literature, look for other public-domain short stories by the same author for comparison.

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

What kind of work is Rough Beast?

According to the Project Gutenberg cataloguing, the book is classified under American and Canadian literature and is a short work of English-language literature. Specific genre details must be determined from the text itself; the cataloguing information provides no finer genre label, so readers can judge for themselves while reading.

Who is the author, Roger D. Aycock?

The cataloguing information gives his dates as 1914–2004 and identifies him as an American author whose work was collected and released by Project Gutenberg. Beyond that, the available information provides no detailed biography, and readers should not draw excessive inferences from information outside this book.

Do I need background knowledge before reading this book?

No. As a standalone short story, it is usually self-contained. It is best to go directly into the text and use a dictionary for period expressions as needed, rather than reading a great deal of background material first.

Comments

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About the author

Roger Dolphus Aycock Author · American · 1914–2004

Roger D. Aycock (1914–2004) was an American science fiction writer, born Roger Dolphus Aycock in Floyd County, Georgia, and best known by the pen name Roger Dee. He made his debut in 1949 with "The Wheel Is Death" and during the 1950s and 1960s wrote more than fifty short stories for magazines such as Galaxy and If. His work often centers on space exploration, encounters with alien worlds, and human dilemmas, with tight plotting and frequent twists at the end, combining popular entertainment with thoughtful speculation. His representative works include "Traders Risk," "Control Group," and "Assignment's End," and he also wrote the novel An Earth Gone Mad. Twelve of his works are held in the collection, including "The Feeling," "Pet Farm," and "Wailing Wall"; public information on his classification is limited, and his influence rests mainly on magazine science fiction of the later Golden Age.