Problem

PRoblem is a sharp, comic science fiction story by Alan E. Nourse about aliens, public relations, mass panic, and the difficulty of selling the public on the terrifyingly unfamiliar. When the Grdznth arrive from a parallel universe, they are peaceful, apologetic, and useful to Earth's authorities-but they look like nightmares, appear unpredictably in public places, and frighten ordinary citizens beyond endurance. Pete Greenwood, a seasoned public-relations man, is called in to turn a social disaster into an acceptable story before politics, fear, and public hysteria make the situation impossible.

Nourse turns an alien-contact premise into a brisk satire of image-making, media management, xenophobia, bureaucracy, and human sentiment. The Grdznth are not invaders in the usual pulp sense; they are refugees with a problem of their own, and Earth's reaction to them reveals as much about human beings as it does about alien life. For readers of Golden Age science fiction, vintage magazine SF, comic alien-contact stories, public-relations satire, and Alan E. Nourse's short fiction, PRoblem is a compact and clever example of mid-century speculative storytelling. Explore other exciting Positronic Books devoted to classic science fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

Alan E. Nourse (1928-1992) was an American science fiction writer and physician whose fiction often combined speculative ideas with practical intelligence, ethical concern, and clear storytelling. He began publishing science fiction in the early 1950s and became known for novels and stories that frequently explored medicine, technology, social pressure, bureaucracy, alien contact, and the human consequences of scientific change. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction notes that Nourse was also a physician and that much of his nonfiction concerned medicine; it also describes his short fiction as often mixing adventure elements with strong speculative ideas.Nourse's work includes Star Surgeon, Trouble on Titan, The Bladerunner, A Man Obsessed, and many shorter works from the magazine era of science fiction. His stories often show an interest in decency under pressure: how people respond when institutions fail, when fear spreads, or when a new discovery exposes old prejudices. PRoblem, first published in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1956, shows his lighter satirical side, using alien refugees, public relations, and public fear to create a comic but pointed science fiction story about appearances, persuasion, and human sympathy.