AsimovLite

January 10, 2004 6:55 PM

AsimovLite. Three cringe-worthy Isaac Asimov short stories. Also: Asimov's "Lecherous Limericks", quotables and links to related essays.
posted by nthdegx (5 comments total)

I'm not making a judgement on the quality of the limericks, here, but I include them because I think it is interesting that they exist. I'm happy to talk-up the short stories, though, as I'm a fan of the baaaaaad pun. It's very possible that others may find them shocking, but I suspect that was the intention.
posted by nthdegx at 6:58 PM on January 10, 2004

Asimov was a big fan of the awful pun. This one is my favorite, although it's probably not funny unless you know who Robert Forward was, and have read some of Forward's stories.
posted by Zonker at 8:17 PM on January 10, 2004

One more to cringe upon.
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:13 PM on January 10, 2004

I had thought that this one was Asimov's, too, but apparently Arthur C. Clarke is to blame.
posted by Zonker at 3:54 PM on January 11, 2004

nthdegx: The short-stories you link are indeed "cringe-worthy" but I don't for a minute believe Isaac wrote them. That's not his voice.

He was finer at a toss-off limerick than some of my favorite MeFites are at a toss-off haiku.

I can't give you my favorite Asimov limerick because he wrote it for a kid friend of mine and it's not mine to share, but here's the one he tossed off for me the same day back in '87:

"There's a lassie who's named Janet Kagan
Whose morals are those of a pagan
She charges no fee
But gives it for free
To anyone but Ronald Reagan."

Cheap shot, yes, but he knew me well enough to get that right.
posted by realjanetkagan at 12:41 AM on January 12, 2004 [7 favorites]