"Of Time and Third Avenue"

"Of Time and Third Avenue"

Release Date:  10//1951
Country of Release: 
Length: 
MPAA: 
Medium:  Literature
Genre: 
Release Message:  A man inadvertently purchased a book from 100 years in the future. Written by Alfred Bester.
Description:  A man calling himself Boyne shows up at a bar and spends $100 to rent the backroom. The barman is skeptical but he is happy enough with the money. Oliver Knight and his partner show up and Boyne brings them into the backroom because he wants to talk with them. Once he has them there, he explains that he is from the future and that it is imperative that he takes the book that Knight purchased earlier that day. Knight believes he purchased the 1950 almanac but Boyne knows it to be the 2050 almanac. What ensues is a discussion about why it would not be advisable for Knight to keep the book (Boyne cannot forcibly take it without irreparable harm). There is a rational discussion and finally, Knight gives over the book, but not without Boyne explaining that Knight would be repaid in some way. Upon leaving the bartender raises a fury about the $100 bill that Boyne gave him because it is a fraud. æWhen Knight looks closer at the bill which is from the future, he sees his name as Secretary of the Treasurer and happily pays the bartender from his own pocket. ææ