The Hoofer

Miller, Walter M., 1923-1996Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

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.The Hoofer by Walter M. MillerAuthor: Miller, Walter M., 1923-1996,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 19, 2009

Editor's review

Walter M. Miller is best known for A Canticle for Leibowitz; The Hoofer is a short story he published in a science fiction magazine, available as a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook. The work continues the author's concern with technology, faith, and the human condition, unfolding in a compact short-story form a science fiction tale with ironic and speculative overtones. For readers familiar with Golden Age science fiction, it is an interesting sample of Miller's short-form technique and thematic preferences; for students of American science fiction, it can serve as a supplementary text for discussing how postwar SF handled technological ethics. Do not expect extensive long-form worldbuilding; focus on the ending twist and use of narrative perspective, and it is best read in one sitting and then revisited for details.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Science fiction fans who enjoy Golden Age American short stories and want to broaden their reading
Literature students studying Walter M. Miller's work who need short-story samples
English learners who want to practice close reading with short original English texts
General readers interested in technological ethics and satirical science fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who only read novels and are uncomfortable with open-ended short-story conclusions
Science fiction readers expecting hard-SF technical detail and grand settings
Beginners with weak English who need a Chinese parallel text to finish

Reading tips

Read it through in one go without looking up words, grasp the characters' situation and conflict, then tackle language difficulties.
On a second reading, note the narrative perspective and the setup for the ending twist, marking the author's hints.
Compare with Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz to see thematic continuities and differences between his short and long fiction.
For classroom discussion, prepare two or three questions about the technology user's responsibility and the target of the satire.

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 The Hoofer a novel or a short story?

According to Project Gutenberg's cataloging, it is a short story by Walter M. Miller, classified under American and Canadian literature. It is short enough to read in one sitting and is not a novel.

Can I understand it without having read other Miller works?

Yes. It is a standalone short story that does not depend on earlier series entries. Knowing Miller's tendency to explore technology, faith, and human conflict will help you appreciate its irony and thematic echoes.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It suits readers with some foundation for close-reading practice: short, structurally complete, and easy to reread. But science fiction and irony involve many contextual meanings and implications; use a dictionary and grasp the story's gist before reading paragraph by paragraph.

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About the author

Miller, Walter M., 1923-1996 Author

Walter M. Miller (1923–1996) was an American science fiction writer. Seven of his works are included in this catalog: Conditionally Human, The Ties That Bind, Death of a Spaceman, Way of a Rebel, The Hoofer, Check and Checkmate, and It Takes a Thief. Public information about him is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify. These titles nonetheless show that he worked mainly in the short-story form, dealing with space adventure, human predicaments, and moral choice. His narratives are concise and often marked by grim irony and reflection. Most of these pieces appeared during the mid-twentieth-century golden age of science fiction magazines, balancing technical speculation with psychological portraiture and embedding concerns about civilization and individual fate within the popular framework of genre fiction, leaving a modest influence on later short science fiction.