"George Alec Effinger - Posterity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Effinger George Alec)

Courane groaned. "First you tell me that I'm going to die a horrible death real soon now,
and then you tell me that nothing I've done or written will be remembered. Why don't you
leave me alone? Why don't you go bother somebody else? Gene Wolfe's a good writer. Go
talk to him."

Eldr├зs spread her hands. "I don't have to. Gene Wolfe is very popular in my time. He
wrote some genuine classics."

"And Space Spy -"

"Let's say, to be charitable, that your best work has been somewhat neglected since
your death."

"Neglected," said Courane glumly.

"Totally and unmercifully out of print since a month after you passed away. There was a
small piece in Locus about your death, and then your name was never again mentioned by
anybody until I came along."

"Why did you choose me then, if I'm such a nobody?"

Eldr├зs smiled sadly. "There were only a handful of twentieth-century science fiction
writers left to write about. Almost everybody else had been documented before my time."

"I was the bottom of the barrel then," said Courane.

"Does it help any if I say that I think you've been unfairly ignored? That your stories are
more entertaining than those of many other writers whose reputations lasted much longer?"
"To be honest, it doesn't help. I think I'm psychologically crippled now, thanks to you."

Eldr├зs stood up and smoothed the covers. "You wouldn't want me to lie to you, would
you?"
"It's too late now, anyway."

"Let's talk about happier things. Let's talk about what I can do for you here, and what
finishing Time Spy will mean. For one thing, it will lead to a resurrection of interest in your
work."
"I don't suppose you could manage a resurrection of me, personally."

"We do supertechnology," said Eldr├зs, "not miracles."

"All right, I'll go along with you. What do I do?"

"Great!" said Eldr├зs, She beamed at him. "I have a skeleton of the first chapter of Time
Spy . Look it over, read the character sketches, and when you feel ready, just start writing in
your notebook. You'll notice that as soon as you start to work, the pain from your incision will
disappear, as well as the other small discomforts. That will last only as long as you're
actually working. As soon as you stop, the pain will come back."

"That's blackmail," said Courane angrily.