Before I begin the review I would like to beg for a little bit of understanding if the entries for this month are shorter than normal or feel rushed. They are.

I have three Thanksgiving celebrations in the next couple weeks, a bunch of holiday baking to do, Christmas shopping and wrapping that is piling up, and I am leaving on a cruise, the first family vacation my mother, sister, and I have been able to arrange that all of us can attend, at the end of the month. All while working on novel revisions and dealing with the ever annoying list of winter health issues.

So, yeah, these entries might be a little less in-depth though I will try to make them interesting and worth the read.

"Application" By Lewis Shiner
THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION - Nov/Dec 2012

Lewis Shiner is not an author with which I am familiar, however, after reading this story I am inclined to see what other work he has out there. If even a portion of it shares the quirkiness, subtlety, and insight of this little tale then I will be a happy new fan.

"Application" is not a long story. In fact, it's less than two full pages. But, they are immensely enjoyable pages. Aside from the obvious humor of the concept, a man being dragged into a discussion (via instant message or some other on-line method never detailed) by an old computer, this story manages to touch on a surprising number of ideas.

I admit that I was initially turned off by the surface discussion of the current economic climate and the standard diatribes regarding it that are briefly touched upon: big business and it's heartless focus on the bottom line, the lack of real jobs, and the fact that America doesn't make anything any more. Not that these are not legitimate concerns, but I've heard so many variations on the theme that it all becomes noise to me. Plus, Steve, the guy talking to his ex-computer, comes across as a bit whiny.

But then he's supposed to. As the conversation continues and the computer offers an unconventional option to unemployment (and unfortunately comes across as a tiny bit preachy about American values and the penal system in the process) the reader gets a very telling picture drawn of Steve. He's over 40, alone, and has both entitlement and anger issues. The latter is particularly relevant to the ending of the tale which I will not spoil.

The story does a great job of addressing issues both large: economic woes, ageism in hiring, etc., as well as smaller more true to daily live concerns: how much information exists about us on-line, the value of changing passwords regularly, and, most importantly, what our behavior says about us, especially when we think no one is watching.

Yes, in such a small space much of these insights are overgeneralized and desperately familiar. At least the societal ones are. The important message in the story is the human one and that comes across both humorously and with surprising emotional strength. Especially, if like me, you immediately draw the parallel between that computer you never knew was watching and those little kids that always seem to be there when you least expect them.

Going by this story neither are likely to forget the things you do when you think you're alone.