Alternating Currents

Alternating Currents was written by Frederick Pohl and published in  1956, when Mr. Pohl was 36...but the stories appeared in the Sci Fi Pulps (Galaxy, Beyond, and Fantastic Universe) from '53 to '55.  Mr. Pohl wrote "Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus" apparently for his wife; ......and even if he didn't it still would be one of the greatest love stories ever....he makes his wife's family appear as if they were from another planet...yet the story is all heart;....a fine start to this book of now classic Sci Fi stories.    "Let the Ants Try" is a time travel tale extraordinaire; "Rafferty's Reasons" details the insanity and murderous rage instilled and caused by the gap between the rich and poor....talk about prophetic!  Last but not least is the tale "Until the Analyst Comes" that is the funniest story about addiction, like, ever...so here's a taste; a taste of the text:

     "He stopped me before I could work up a full explosion.  Wait! Don't think that you're the only person who thinks about what's good for the world.  When I first heard of Cheery-Gum, I worried."  He stubbed the cigarette out distastefully, still talking. "Euphoria is well and good, I said, but what about emergencies?  And I looked around, and there weren't any.  Things were getting done, maybe slowly and erratically, but they were getting done.  And then I said, on a high moral plane, that's well and good, but what about the ultimate destiny of man?  And that worried me, until I began looking at my patients."  He smiled reflectively.  "I had 'em all, Mr. McGory.  You name it, I had it coming in to see me twice a week.  The worst wrecks of psyches you ever heard of, twisted and warped and destroying themselves; and then they stopped.  ....."

     "They stopped eating themselves up with worry and fear and tension, and then they weren't my patients any more.  And what's more, they weren't morons.  Give them a stimulus, they respond.  Interest them, they react6.  I played bridge with a woman who was catatonic last month; we had to put the first stick of gum in her mouth.  She beat the hell out of me, Mr. McGory...."

      "It isn't a habit.  So why break it?"
       So how can you break it?
       You can stop Cheery-Gum any time.  You can stop it this second, or five minutes from now,  or   
       tomorrow.
       So why worry about it?
       It's completely voluntary, entirely under your control; it won't hurt you, it won't make you sick.
       I wish that Theodor Yust would come back.  Or maybe I'll just cut my throat."

Funny how things that aren't habit forming are after all indeed quite habit forming!

Great collection of tales from Mr. Pohl.






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