What You Need

by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

Release: October 1945
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Time Phenomena
Original Language: English

Reporter Tim Carmichael visits Peter Talley, a shopkeeper on Park Avenue who provides things that his select clientele will need in the future.

I don’t always include prescience stories in my list, but like Heinlein’s “Life-Line,” this one is an exception, both because of the origin of Peter Talley’s prescience and because it was made into episodes of Tales of Tomorrow (the TV show) and [work-142 | The Twilight Zone[/ex].

— Michael Main

By turning a calibrated dial, I check the possible futures

DEBUT

“What You Need,” in Astounding Science Fiction, October 1945.

VARIANTS

1 English variant

DERIVATIVE WORKS

“What You Need” by Rod Serling, directed by Alvin Ganzer, (CBS-TV, USA, 25 December 1959).

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Timeline Models

Viewing the Future: “There are innumerable possible variants of the future. [. . .] Some years ago, almost by accident, I stumbled on the principle of seeing the future.”

Themes

Calculating the Future: “In the back room, I have the machine itself. By turning a calibrated dial, I check the possible futures.”

Groupings