My Petition For More Space
Try to imagine a book that mostly takes place in a waiting line. Hersey does it with this marvelous tale. It is the near future, when couples have to apply to have a child, and are allowed only one. (Patriotic teen males can agree to get a vasectomy.) Personal space for individuals is limited to an 8x12-foot painted square in a large warehouse dorm, and the only area in New Haven with grass and trees is walled off -- the mayor gets to mow it but others c... The Child Buyer
A mysterious representative has come to a small New England town to purchase a highly intelligent and promising 10-year-old boy named Barry Rudd from his parents and take him away for training and use in a special corporate defense project. (The "training" involves not only isolation and reeducation but major surgery.) The uproar has led to violence, battles on the school board, and an investigation by the state legislature. The story is told in the form...
