A man, dazed from running into a temporal snag, appears in a radio factory, whereupon (before returning to his own time) he makes a radio that’s actually a Twonky, which promptly gets shipped to a Mr. Kerry Westerfield, who is initially quite confounded and amazed at everything it does.

Because of the story’s opening, I’m convinced the Twonky is from the future. The “temporal snag” that brought it to 1942 feels like an unexpected time rift to me, although the route back to the future is an intentional journey via an unexplained method.
—Michael Main
“Great Snell!” he gasped. “So that was it! I ran into a temporal snag!”

Tags

(9)

Variants

(2)
  1. “The Twonky,” as by Lewis Padgett, Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1942.
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner as by Lewis Padgett
    C. L. Moore as by Lewis Padgett
  2. alternative byline.
    “The Twonky,” as by Henry Kuttner, in The Best of Henry Kuttner (Nelson Doubleday, February 1975).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]

Translations

(10)
  1. Croatian.
    “Tvonki,” as by Henry Kuttner, Sirius #43, January 1980).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Božidar Stančić
  2. Dutch.
    “Radio,” as by Lewis Padgett, in Sprong in ruimte en tijd, edited by A. de Bruijn and A. van der Hoek (Andries Blitz, 1957).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner as by Lewis Padgett
    C. L. Moore as by Lewis Padgett
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by P. J. Verhoeff
  3. Dutch.
    “De Twonky” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, in De Trotse robot en andere SF-verhalen (Meulenhoff, 1976).
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Pon Ruiter
  4. French.
    “Le Twonky” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, in Déja demain (Gallimard, October 1961).
    5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by P. J. Izabelle
  5. French.
    “Le Twonky,” as by Lewis Padgett, in Des hommes et des machines, edited by Robert Silverberg (Marabout, 1973).
    6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner as by Lewis Padgett
    C. L. Moore as by Lewis Padgett
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Léon Thoorens
  6. German.
    “Der Twonky,” as by Henry Kuttner, in Gespräch aus der Zukunft und andere Stories (Moewig, September 1970).
    7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Birgit Reß-Bohusch
  7. German.
    “Der Twonky,” as by Henry Kuttner, in Gefährliche Possen, edited by Peter Haining (Heyne, 1997).
    8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Erik Simon
  8. Italian.
    “Il Twonky” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, in Il twonky, il tempo e la follia (Casa Editrice La Tribuna, November 1971).
    9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  9. Russian.
    “Твонки,” as by Генри Каттнер, in Источник миров (ПП Полиграфия, 1993).
    10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner as by Генри Каттнер
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by А. Иванов
  10. Spanish.
    “El Twonky,” as by Henry Kuttner, in Lo mejor de Henry Kuttner I (Edhasa, 1979).
    11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Henry Kuttner
    C. L. Moore [uncredited]
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Arturo Casals

Derived Works

(1)
  1. The Twonky, written and directed by Arch Oboler (10 June 1953).