“Operation Outer Space” by Murray Leinster (aka Will F. Jenkins). Reading: Fantasy Press, (1954). Signed & numbered first edition. Cover art by John T. Brooks
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
Jed Cochrane headed the first space flight beyond the Solar System because a frustrated psychotic on the Moon happened to be the son-in-law of one of Jed’s bosses. Jed was an advertising man, a solidograph producer, director of the “Dikkipatti” Hour (rated among the top ten shows on at least three continents). What little he knew about space travel he had learned while doing research for one of his shows. And Jed was cynical – cynical about space travel in general, and about himself in particular. In short, he was the last man anyone with a logical mind would have selected for Man’s first flight into the depths of interstellar space.
Yet Jed Cochrane, heading for the Moon on orders of one of his bosses’ secretaries, not because he wanted to but because he was afraid he’d lose his job if he didn’t, landed feet first in the midst of the biggest discovery of several centuries. Accompanied by his own secretary, a psychiatrist, a writer, and two “tame” scientists, Jed went to the Moon to do a public relations job – to develop appreciation for an apparently useless scientific discovery made by his boss’s son-in-law. Jed found an angle and set to work – and in short order discovered he had a tiger by the tail – a huge, potentially dangerous, possibly benevolent tiger.
But to Jed everything was simply a “production” – even Operation: Outer Space!
Murray Leinster has written a delightful, slightly zany, somewhat cynical, yet amazingly convincing story of the first interstellar flight. His characters are three dimensional; the situations in which they find themselves are unusual but logical; the resulting tale is one you’ll read and reread with utmost enjoyment.
Thrills, chills and chuckles – all are here in the best science fiction book Murray Leinster has ever written – a book which is bound to win acclaim as one of the best S-F books of the year.
“Operation Outer Space” by Murray Leinster (aka Will F. Jenkins). Reading: Fantasy Press, (1954). Signed & numbered first edition. Cover art by John T. Brooks
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
Jed Cochrane headed the first space flight beyond the Solar System because a frustrated psychotic on the Moon happened to be the son-in-law of one of Jed’s bosses. Jed was an advertising man, a solidograph producer, director of the “Dikkipatti” Hour (rated among the top ten shows on at least three continents). What little he knew about space travel he had learned while doing research for one of his shows. And Jed was cynical – cynical about space travel in general, and about himself in particular. In short, he was the last man anyone with a logical mind would have selected for Man’s first flight into the depths of interstellar space.
Yet Jed Cochrane, heading for the Moon on orders of one of his bosses’ secretaries, not because he wanted to but because he was afraid he’d lose his job if he didn’t, landed feet first in the midst of the biggest discovery of several centuries. Accompanied by his own secretary, a psychiatrist, a writer, and two “tame” scientists, Jed went to the Moon to do a public relations job – to develop appreciation for an apparently useless scientific discovery made by his boss’s son-in-law. Jed found an angle and set to work – and in short order discovered he had a tiger by the tail – a huge, potentially dangerous, possibly benevolent tiger.
But to Jed everything was simply a “production” – even Operation: Outer Space!
Murray Leinster has written a delightful, slightly zany, somewhat cynical, yet amazingly convincing story of the first interstellar flight. His characters are three dimensional; the situations in which they find themselves are unusual but logical; the resulting tale is one you’ll read and reread with utmost enjoyment.
Thrills, chills and chuckles – all are here in the best science fiction book Murray Leinster has ever written – a book which is bound to win acclaim as one of the best S-F books of the year.