Summary
"We Print The Truth" is a 1943 science fiction/fantasy short story by Anthony Boucher. It was first published in Astounding Science Fiction, in December 1943.
Synopsis edit
When editor John McVeagh is offered a gift by a supernatural being, he asks that his newspaper only ever print the truth. This has consequences beyond what he could have imagined.
Reception edit
"We Print the Truth" was a finalist for the 1944 Retro Hugo for Best Novella.[1]
In his 2015 review of Boucher's work, Jeffrey Marks noted the presence of Boucher's thematic "passions": religion (the story begins with characters discussing "God's love for truth and the responsibility of humans to record that truth") and mystery (the first section of the story involves a murder investigation — which, Marks emphasizes, is "sensational, but not remotely science fiction").[2] Writing for The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Brian Stableford called it "moralistic" and "perhaps [Boucher's] finest work".[3]
References edit
- ^ Announcing the 2019 Hugo Award Winners at Tor.com; published August 18, 2019; retrieved October 1, 2019
- ^ Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography, by Jeffrey Marks, published 2015 by McFarland & Company
- ^ Boucher, Anthony, in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy; by Brian Stableford; published June 1997; edited by John Clute and John Grant
External links edit
- We Print the Truth title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Text of the story at Archive.org