"We do not even know what his character is,” said Doctor Fell. “Most men who sound vicious take out their viciousness vocally. And all of the sadists I have known, and I have known a great many in thirty years of police work, are mild of talk and appearance and inclined to banter. You will have to admit that Soapy Seeley is not what we might call a sterling character. A man of sterling character is not arrested two hundred plus either thirteen or fourteen times in ten years.

Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888) "Yes. The creator could save himself a lot of trouble by setting beginning very near the end. He could make it all its mementos and history and cosmic evidence whenever he chose, or as late as he chose." "Yes. He could make it all at the last moment, all complete, and who would know the difference? He could make it between the moment that he had Gabriel set lip to horn, and the moment that he sounded that last (and only) note." "And if he c

“There’ll Always Be Another Me” is one of my least favorite Lafferty stories. It is a late variation on the schizo-gash, a potshot at the New Age metaphysical temperament. That I don’t mind. The story’s trick: one locks a door to force something out, only to find oneself abruptly on the other side, locked out instead. We have two main characters who become four. One day, the unified Spaltman (let's call these unified selves Priors) decides to answer ten advertisements from Lo