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FIRST PUBLICATION

•      If, Apr 1955 {ill. by Freas}

HISTORY:

   After "Autofac" Only a week passed before two more stories arrived at the SMLA. These were "Captive Market" and "The Mold Of Yancy" on Oct 18, 1954.

   "Captive Market" was first published in If in Apr 1955. Fairly popular with editors, the story was anthologized first in 1957 in THE FIRST WORLD OF IF, then collected in THE PRESERVING MACHINE (1969) and in 1988 included in Isaac Asimov and Martin Greenburg’s prestigious anthology THE GREAT SF STORIES 17.

     "Captive Market" is a grim little story in which a precognitive old lady who owns a country store finds a future where survivors of a nuclear war need provisions to escape Earth for Venus. Greedily she sells them whatever they need but with her precog powers she can always find a future where they do not escape and keep on coming back for more.

    This is another of Dick’s unique takes on psionics as he invests the powers into a small-minded old lady with nothing but money and profit on her mind. Certainly she’s no super-human mutant ready and able to lead humanity to a better future.

    "Captive Market" earns ó ó ó ó ó

Other Magazine and Anthology appearances.        More Cover Pix Here:

1957		THE FIRST WORLD OF IF, Quinn, pb, ?, 1957, ?, $0.50 (?) {Ed. Quinn & Wolf}
1969		THE PRESERVING MACHINE And Other Stories, Ace, pb, 67800, ?,? (?)
1976		TOMORROW, INC. , Taplinger, hb, ?, 1976, ?, ? (?) {Ed. Greenberg, Olander}
1977c		TOMORROW, INC. , ?, hb, ?, ?, ?, ? (?) {Ed. Greenberg, Olander}
1987		THE COLLECTED STORIES OF PKD
1988		THE GREAT SF STORIES 17, DAW, pb, ?, 1988, ?,? (?) {Ed. Asimov, Greenberg}

NOTES:

SRG 43

    In "Captive Market" an old woman gifted with precognition has previewed the futures to find one in which survivors on the radioactive earth need supplies for their escape to a safe planet. As the proprietor of a small-town country store, she has the business acuity to recognize this windfall; her canniness outweighs any sympathy she may have for their plight. Making trip after trip into their time continuum with the supplies for which they pay in worthless-to-them pre-war money, she selfishly refuses to tell them a vital fact she had also previewed -- they will continue to fail to escape.

Collector’s Notes

Rudy’s Books: "Captive Market" in THE FIRST WORLD OF IF {Ed. Quinn and Wulff}, mag format, 1957. G-VG. $4

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