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Description edit see section history

Got a problem? Just pick up the phone. It solved them all--and all the same way! A classic Vonnegut story from the pages of Worlds of If magazine!

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Edward K. Wehling, Jr.: A soon-to-be father of triplets faced with a terrible decision; dismayed and desperate; forlorn; "young" in the sense that he is only mid-50's in a world teeming with 200-year-olds
  • Young Wheling: Soon-to-be father of triplets waiting in hospital wait room
  • Painter: Old, sardonic man painting a mural of a perfect garden in the hospital waiting room
  • the painter: man who witnesses the events in the hospital
  • Dr. Benjamin Hitz: Hospital's Chief Obstetrician. Very handsome and tall; very famous; pioneer of the chief tool of population control--the "catbox" or Ethical Suicide Studios; callous to others' sense of sanctity for life.
  • Leora Duncan: Woman with a mustache that works for the Federal Bureau of Termination
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers”
    narrator
  • “"To be or not to be" was the telephon number of the municipal gas chambers of the Federal Bureau of Termination.”
    Narrator

First Sentence edit see section history

Everything was perfectly swell.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Worlds of If Science Fiction
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: January, 1962
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 24

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Mind opener!


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