02498cam a22003733u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000340011324500290014726400510017630000470022733600260027433700260030033800360032649000580036250000310042050800950045152012940054653400450184065300200188565300180190565300290192365300250195270000290197783000580200685600430206499900170210732667UtSlPG20260610133738.0mcr n260607r2010||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aLudwig, Edward W.,d1920-199014aThe Holes and John Smith 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2010  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction June 1954.  aRelease date is 2010-06-03  aProduced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net  a"The Holes and John Smith" by Edward W. Ludwig is a science fiction short story published in the mid-20th century. Set in a futuristic Martian environment, the story revolves around a struggling band in a cocktail lounge who encounter a mysterious and enigmatic musician named John Smith. The narrative explores themes of music, time travel, and the peculiarities of existence, ultimately conveying the complexity of human experience through whimsical yet profound dialog.  In the story, the band led by Jimmie Stanley is facing the threat of job loss due to the absence of their bass player. Their fate changes when John Smith arrives with an ancient instrument called a Zloomph. His playing transforms the atmosphere of the lounge, drawing in an audience and capturing the attention of their critical manager. However, as the narrative unfolds, it is revealed that John is obsessed with finding a specific "hole" that he believes will return him to his rightful time dimension after he accidentally fell through it. Despite his musical talent and the applause he receives, John's quest to return home ultimately leads to his mysterious disappearance, leaving the band grappling with the loss of their best player and the void he left behind. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction  aShort stories  aMars (Planet) -- Fiction  aMusicians -- Fiction1 aFreas, Kelly,d1922-2005 0aProduced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction June 1954.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32667  c73513d73513