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In this classic send-up of American commercialism, a near-future earth is resource-depleted but callously ruled by advertising, splitting society between all-powerful ad agencies & exploited consumers. Mitchell Courtenay is a glib ad-exec who has just landed the assignment of a lifetime: enticing consumers to colonize Venus. So what if the atmosphere reeks of formaldehyde, the ambient temperature boils water & the winds reach 500 mph? Here was a bright new tomorrow to sell. No one was better at convincing consumers to stake their futures on a hellhole than Mitch Courtenay.
But Mitch no sooner dusts the confetti of victory from his shoulders when he discovers that his wife wants to end their trial marriage & that someone is out to kill him. Then his cushy existence is stolen outright when his ID tattoo is altered to the status of a lowly consumer. Rather than serve out a 5-year contract as a menial laborer, he skillfully connives his way back up the social chain to learn who wanted him dead. His suspects include everyone from his former co-workers to rival agencies & a rabid conservationist group called the Consies--even an astronaut out for his wife's affections. In a cutthroat world that would sell lead paint to children, Courtenay must out-fox, out-scam & out-run his enemies.
As only an ad-man can.
--front flap
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Science fiction, consumerism, overpopulation, terraformation, shanghaiing, fiction, Fiction, science fiction, generalPeople
Mitch CourtenayPlaces
Venus, AntarcticaShowing 5 featured editions. View all 26 editions?
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1
The Space Merchants
2011-12, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Griffin
Paperback
in English
- 1st St. Martin's Griffin ed.; Revised 21st Century Edition
1250000157 9781250000156
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3
The Space Merchants
1987-03, St. Martin's Press
Mass Market Paperback
in English
- 1st St. Martin's Press mass market ed. (1)
0312906552 9780312906559
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4
The Space Merchants
1985, St. Martin's Press
Paperback
in English
- 1st ed.
031274952X 9780312749521
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The Space Merchants is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writers Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since. It deals satirically with a hyper-developed consumerism, seen through the eyes of an advertising executive. In 1984, Pohl published a sequel, The Merchants' War. In 2012, it was included in the Library of America omnibus American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1953–1956. Pohl revised the original novel in 2011 with added material and more contemporary references.
It was rated the 24th "all-time best novel" in a 1975 Locus poll, jointly with The Martian Chronicles and The War of the Worlds. The novel was also included in David Pringle's list of 100 best science fiction novels.
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Feedback?November 20, 2021 | Edited by Lisa | Edited without comment. |
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