Rat Race by George O. Smith

Read now or download (free!)

Choose how to read this book Url Size
Read online (web) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.html.images 56 kB
EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.epub3.images 417 kB
EPUB (older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.epub.images 416 kB
EPUB (no images, older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.epub.noimages 76 kB
Kindle https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.kf8.images 454 kB
older Kindles https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.kindle.images 446 kB
Plain Text UTF-8 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68256.txt.utf-8 49 kB
Download HTML (zip) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/68256/pg68256-h.zip 409 kB
There may be more files related to this item.

About this eBook

Author Smith, George O. (George Oliver), 1911-1981
Illustrator Cartier, Edd, 1914-2008
Title Rat Race
Original Publication United States: Street & Smith Publications, Incorporated,1947.
Credits Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
Summary "Rat Race" by George O. Smith is a science fiction short story published in the late 1940s. The narrative revolves around the creation of an innovative mousetrap by the protagonist, Peter Manton, which inadvertently leads to unforeseen consequences. The story explores themes of invention, unintended effects, and the complexities of time, as Manton's invention interacts with the fabric of reality in unexpected ways. In the story, Peter Manton invents a unique mousetrap that not only captures mice but also transmits them to unknown locations. Initially, this seems like a brilliant solution to a rising mouse population, particularly amidst wartime shortages of conventional traps. However, as the device begins to demonstrate its ability to send captured mice back in time, strange occurrences escalate into a national crisis dubbed a "plague of rats." This results in attention from the government and law enforcement as they attempt to decipher the trap's mysterious properties. Ultimately, it is revealed that the inadvertent time manipulations lead to the very problem the trap was meant to solve, presenting a humorous and thought-provoking commentary on the nature of innovation and its ramifications. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Language English
LoC Class PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
Subject Science fiction
Subject Short stories
Subject Inventions -- Fiction
Subject Mousetraps -- Fiction
Category Text
EBook-No. 68256
Release Date
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 59 downloads in the last 30 days.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!