The Twonky

by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

Release: September 1942
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

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!”

DEBUT

“The Twonky,” Astounding Science-Fiction, September 1942.

VARIANTS

2 English variants

TRANSLATIONS

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

10 translations

DERIVATIVE WORKS

The Twonky written and directed by Arch Oboler, (at movie theaters, USA, 10 June 1953).

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1940 to 1949

Timeline Models

Unexplained Timeline Model

Time Travel Methods

Themes

Groupings

Astounding · Analog (periodical)
Sirius (periodical): #43, January 1980
Cited in Time Machines by Paul J. Nahin ()

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From unspecified future time and place ⋙ to within a day’s train ride of Denver, circa 1942.
From within a day’s train ride of Denver, circa 1942 ⋙ to unspecified future time and place.

ITTDB Work #103: by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
Indexer: Michael Main
Curator: Michael Main
as of 2:42 p.m. MDT, 5 May 2024
This page is still under construction. Please bear with us as we continue to finalize our data over the coming years.