Skip to main content

story identification - Country boy goes to the city, encounters shooting galleries with live targets and true love



I'm pretty sure this was in an anthology of older stories that I read in a paperback in the 90s, although the book may have dated from when my parents were growing up in the 60s and the 70s. The protagonist is a country boy who goes into town. There a sort of a Coney Island setup with booths and items for sale. I remember there were prostitutes named something like "pork-upines" with vaginal openings scattered all over their bodies as well as a shooting gallery where you practiced on live targets, although I'm not entirely certain if they were robots of some sort, or genetically modified. The protagonist is horrified at the excesses of the city, but samples the wares of one of the prostitutes, falls in love with her, and buys her freedom.



Somehow, in the course of the story, he becomes disillusioned and he arranges for her to be a target at one of the shooting galleries. The story ends with him aiming his rifle at her.



I know it's a very vague description, but I'm hoping those salient points strike a memory in someone. It was in English. I read it while in the United States somewhere in the 90s, and I'm pretty sure it was one one story in an older paperback, the sort with the cheap paper that browns with age. It's also possible that it's one of the shooting gallery targets he purchases, although I'm pretty sure it was one of the prostitutes.



Answer



"Pilgrimage to Earth" aka "Love, Incorporated", a short story by Robert Sheckley, first published in Playboy, September 1956; reprinted in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1957, available at the Internet Archive.


The protagonist is a country boy who goes into town.



Alfred Simon was born on Kazanga IV, a small agricultural planet near Arcturus, and there he drove a combine through the wheat fields, and in the long, hushed evenings listened to the recorded love songs of Earth.

[. . .]

At last he came to Earth, where dreams must come true, for there is a law against their failure.




There a sort of a Coney Island setup with booths and items for sale. I remember there were prostitutes named something like "pork-upines" with vaginal openings scattered all over their bodies


No, there's nothing like that in "Pilgrimage to Earth".


as well as a shooting gallery where you practiced on live targets, although I'm not entirely certain if they were robots of some sort, or genetically modified.



Simon walked over and saw that, instead of the usual targets, there were four scantily dressed women at the end of the gallery, seated upon bullet-scored chairs. They had tiny bulls-eyes painted on their foreheads and above each breast.

"But do you fire real bullets?" Simon asked.
"Of course!" the manager said. "There's a law against false advertising on Earth,. Real bullets and real gals! Step up and knock one off!"

One of the women called out, "Cone on, sport! Bet you miss me!"

Another screamed, "He couldn't hit the broad side of a spaceship!"

"Sure he can!" another shouted. "Come on, sport!"



Well, that part seems to match. Any chance you could be mixing up two stories?


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion