What You Need
- Eloi Gold Medal
- by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore
- Short Story
- Science Fiction
- Adults
- Time Phenomena
- English
- “What You Need,” as by Lewis Padgett, in Astounding Science Fiction, October 1945.
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]].
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]].
—Michael Main
By turning a calibrated dial, I check the possible futures
Tags
(4)
- 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
Variants
(1)
- “What You Need,” as by Lewis Padgett, in Astounding Science Fiction, October 1945.
Derived Works
(1)
- “What You Need” by Rod Serling, directed by Alvin Ganzer (25 December 1959).