"Lot" and "Lot’s Daughter" by Ward Moore

Both "Lot" and "Lot’s Daughter" first appeared F&SF.  The first was filmed as Panic in Year Zero and was reprinted by Everett F. Bleiler, T. E. Dikty, Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas, Brian W. Aldiss, Sheila Schwartz, H. Bruce Franklin, Walter M. Miller Jr., Martin H. Greenberg, Isaac Asimov and Peter Haining. The sequel story, "Lot’s Daughter", was reprinted by Robert P. Mills. They were published together in a slender volume by Tachyon Publications.

            Summary

Mr. David Jimmon and family are packed and hurrying out the door to escape the effects of a nuclear blast. A neighbor, Warbinn, tries to intercept them before they leave, but Mr. Jimmon is in hurry. They meet briefly on the highway for Warbinn to say that he had Jimmon's tire jack back at the house. Mr. Jimmon is angry but brushes it off thinking he had one in this particular car. Meanwhile, Mrs. Molly Jimmon talks about going back to L.A. in a few days and wants to check to see if the lines to L.A. are working.

            Commentary with Spoilers

Of all his kids, only Erika seems to be most like him, seems to realize the magnitude of what is occurring although there are hints that maybe Jimmon doesn’t really know the magnitude of what is happening. Are there as many nuclear blasts as he assumes there will be? Will civilization be wipe out?

Mr. Jimmon is clever enough to drive in the inbound lanes, which were empty except for a bunch of military, fire, and police department vehicles. Jimmon is written a citation and told to turn around. But he doesn't.

This section provides a clever solution and complication. However, it seems dubious, even pointless, that anyone would remain with the fallout radius. Staying behind sounds noble but also foolish and deadly. Surely, no one would have these groups drive into a dangerzone. Why? To save victims, they'd become victims. Maybe something else is going on.

Besides, once Jimmon leads the way, at least a third of the traffic would follow suit, speeding up both sides of traffic. 

This was a major story that writers continued to talk about into the nineties, demonstrated by Tachyon republishing the two stories as short novel/chapbook collection. Michael Swanwick in his introduction, puts the story into historical context, pointing out the era’s concern for school children surviving an atomic bomb by hiding under a desk, which may have done little to protect the kids. Children today still drill for potential shooters and tornados although the scale of an atomic bomb (and survival) would have been a far greater destructive and long-lasting effects. Those who drilled for an attack were probably the most moved by nuclear holocaust narratives so prevalent between the fifties and the eighties, which has dropped off even though nuclear explosion is still a possibility today.

The story’s details and dialog are mundane, focusing on the thoughts of a survivalist who has thought hard about this possibility. The family dwell on minor issues in the face of a graver danger—the father seeming to be the only one aware of the true danger of a nuclear bomb although presumably the kids were educated in the classroom, to some extent.

It has few speculative eyekicks, but its strength lies in a clever take on the Biblical tale of Lot, which immediately comes to mind today since the story is often paired with its sequel, "Lot’s Daughter."

One must take this in mind when interpreting the ending where he abandons his sons and wife—too concerned about the trappings of the past and civilization. In the Bible, Lot was told to leave Sodom and not to look back. In the story, none of his family wanted to leave, despite how abominably they treated his guests (and Lot promised them his daughters). Here though, we may only be expected to remember that they were told not to look back, but Lot’s wife did and she was turned to a pillar of salt. Here Jimmon takes the more active role of God and abandons her and their sons. Maybe they would be in the way in this new way of life that Lot expects. His wife does seem critical of a pudgy, aging David Jimmon surviving in a new world.

That Lot takes off with just his daughter suspends a second, suggestive meaning in their escape and abandoning the rest of the family. In the Bible, Lot’s daughters get him drunk and sleep with him to carry on the family seed.

But one should not forget the other possible meaning of “Lot” as in “much” and “portion” and “destiny.” Is Lot too much? What is Lot’s lot? Is it too much? Does he deserve it? Do his wife and children?

 “Lot’s Daughter”

If you’ve read “Lot,” you don’t need “Lot’s Daughter” (published about a year and a half later, so it’s difficult to tell if the story was written to answer questions that readers had) as the same theme carries on although it does answer some plot questions while leaving some of the same ones open.

The daughter becomes his wife, both physically and mentally (the incest stays mostly in the background). She has him explain why he left his family. He explains he left her $20,000, which would be a tidy sum, but she points out that that money would be useless to her if the economy collapses. After spotting jeep tracks and being dissatisfied with their present life, she sets out for what she hopes will be civilization. He, meanwhile, surmises what she did, sees the missing gun and carries on with their son despite the pain of molar that could be aided by civilization.

The story does answer that civilization was more devastated than his previous knowledge suggests as they have been using the car’s radio. Unfortunately, radio would have not have worked since the car battery, tires, gasoline, and even the engine itself might have all been dead after six or seven years. When Dad fell ill, we let Dad’s truck sit for two years without using it, and it had seized up. Gas goes bad over winter so they usually add additives to protect it, regular use of the battery would use up its energy unless they recharged it by driving it and he didn’t want to draw attention themselves by driving it.

The original editors, Boucher and McComas, insinuate that they saw David Jimmon as careful yet selfish. (They seem to be the ones who urged the sequel, according to their introductory material).

Editor Robert Mills, like Swanwick, calls the second story (and presumably the first) “a real treatment” of the nuclear scenario. The incest, despite being carefully worded and never displayed, apparently did not go without controversy, according to the back matter in the chapbook. Little wonder it got so few comparative reprintings, apart from the problem of being a sequel, much as it tried to stand alone.

It’s a good story although it depends heavily on the first, or it wouldn’t have lacked the proper impact. It is best read as a pair although the first story could stand alone. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect is how Erika both is and is not his daughter through this one act. These narratives are probably a critical piece of the genre in terms of discussing nuclear holocaust.

The Author

Ward Moore won no awards or nominations yet was respected by writers. Despite the appearance in several best-of anthologies, he seems to have never had a collection. Apparently, he appears as a character in books by Kenneth Rexroth, himself, and Jean Ariss. He is also well known as the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Bring the Jubilee, which I [will] discuss here. 

Lucius Shepard

There are several in-memoriams. Here are some of the best:

• Katherine Dunn
• Lisa Goldstein
• Michael Swanwick

I was not shy about my admiration of the man's work at Clarion West, and I got to meet him at someone's backyard party one Saturday. I loved "Beast of the Heartland" (which he liked) and "The All-Consuming" (which he was less fond of). He shared a novel he was working on--something about gondolas that I didn't quite follow. He told me not to take his idea--"Not that you would," he added. I didn't. I haven't ever heard of this published as a novel or a story, so apparently he has various manuscripts that have not seen the light.

One of the finest writers inside or out of the genre has enlightened us, leaving behind much to enlighten future generations. Now it's the worms' turn to be enlightened as apparently he might have said, according to Swanwick--just as Shakespeare told us through Hamlet. May he live on through us.

Image from Wikipedia

Writing Advice Links

Scoop-It: Advice for Writers

Carrie Vaughn's advice for newly published/about to be published writers

Cat Rambo: Writing advice, superheroes, science fiction

John Irving: Advice to Aspiring Novelists: Don't Shoot Yourself

6 Pieces of Advice from Successful Writers

Writing tips & advice from Lovecraft eZine editor Mike Davis

5 Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Dialogue Writing

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Michael Swanwick's Only Writing Advice You'll Ever Need

Free ebooks of and info on Lafferty

Two posts on R.A. Lafferty:

1. Michael Swanwick 
2. and Chuck Rothman.

Lafferty's long been a favorite of mine. Reading him, I'm reminded of Donald Barthelme--both highly original voices. I've always been fascinated by names like "Lafferty"--as he tend to make his readers laugh.

Here are two public domain stories to read to whet your appetite:

• The Six Fingers of Time by R. A. Lafferty
• Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas

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Michael Swanwick speaks

Michael Swanwick on "A Terrible Story":

Reader: "Why would you write about such terrible things?" 

MS: "Because they exist. Because the potential for them resides within all of us. Because refusing to look at them does not make them go away. Because periodically we must recognize all these hard truths.'

Michael Swanwick on which kind of stories he should write:

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Michael Swanwick on literary eating habits (other authors available on Lawrence Schoen's site

I recently posted a quote of Ray Bradbury on his SF reading habits.  Here's Michael Swanwick on James Branch Cabell and his own reading habits--how they change.

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Writing the Other Workshop and Retreat Chattanooga, TN - June 9 - 15, 2014

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Steven Barnes' Ultimate Writer Bundle (was discounted) -- various mp3s + pdfs on writing (Hero's Journey) and fitting life into the midst.

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Charles Stross on worldbuilding for posthumans

Jane Lindskold on books that change your perspective (the article's strength, the explanation of "why", sadly disappears)

500 "new" old fairy tales

Rattle on Speculative Poetry

Omni arises with new fiction by Rudy Rucker

Jeffrey Ford on Tradition

Michael Swanwick on the fantasy traditional and how his novels navigate this

Charlie Hugh Smith predicts The Next American Revolution

James Patrick Kelly on Cyberpunk

Octavia E. Butler on Predicting The Future

Humorous bookcover cliches (although it doesn't hamper my appreciation of a few designs)

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Theodora Goss discusses Margaret Atwood's opening to Alias Grace.  What strikes me is how quickly the narrator captures the ladies and the mores of their culture--as well as sharp observations.

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Christopher Priest at the Guardian, Adam Roberts at New Scientist's Arc Finity, and Michael Swanwick look back at Jack Vance's career.  Swanwick should collect his writings on various authors.  It is often fascinating.  He turned me on to R. A. Lafferty.

Audio interview: Gary Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan talk with Christopher Barzak and Mary Rickert

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Art appreciation:  Why you should stare at art for three hours

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David Farland on getting into the writing zone and on great expectations 

Mark W. Tiedemann on early influences and on selecting the right protagonist

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Non-winning Nebula Speech by Helena Bell (if you like this speech, you may well like her stories which are similar--complex but fun)

John Scalzi on Amazon’s new “Kindle Worlds” program (seems a balanced assessment)

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7 Reason Agents stop reading

Body language as subtext

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Michael Swanwick revisits The Left Hand of Darkness

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Victorian slang dictionary

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Tarkovsky Films Now Free Online

Salon.com says, "Sorry, the short story boom is bogus."

Response:  Laura Miller makes great points, but she doesn't produce proof that there isn't a boom.  Rather, she disagrees that the evidence is evidence for boom, but disagreeing with evidence does not negate the existence of a thing.  Perhaps there is a boom compared to story sales prior to e-reading.  Perhaps not.

Make art to accompany Neil Gaiman's stories.

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China Mieville's Top 50 books

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Importance of Theodore Sturgeon's "Maturity" [Michael Swanwick & Jason Sanford; also of interest History of SF Flame Wars]

Donate to writing scholarship and receive ebook [Octavia E. Butler Scholarship]

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On Writing and Creativity

The New, a new magazine (FB)

New course in Fantasy and SF by Eric Rabkin at Coursera 

As  well as one on scientific thinking

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Overlap with similar anecdotes:  Writing to Remember

Max Sebald's writing rules

21 Woman Writers to know


6 things prose writers might learn from screen writers

25 truths about publishing

Thought on numbered posts -- While often intriguing, usually supporting examples do not occur in these articles, which would help seal the information for readers.

Farland on going from idea to story

Benjamin Rosenbaum on The Hobbit film (good for complex narrative reasoning)

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Michel Kelly interview


Theodora Goss's Fairy Tale class

Michael Swanwick on James Branch Cabell

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Graham Joyce on his first novel, Dreamside.

Jon Armstrong's audio interview with Richard Bowes

Michael Swanwick on the creative process and not knowing how "luminous" a piece is until later.

Jeremy Zimmerman on his novella, Kensei. (Mary Robinette Kowal's blog)

Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells discuss story openings.

Ian McEwan on general questions, semi-literary interest.

Kim Stanley Robinson on Terraforming Earth

IO9 on Molly Gloss

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Fascinating:  Dan Ariely & RSA Animate on The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty:

Michael Swanwick high fantasy vs. sword and sorcery

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Have outdoorsy mystery novel to sell?  Anne Frasier is looking.

Tip of the hat to Tobias Buckell's new story in Lightspeed

5 Things Smart People Do

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Cat Rambo on book promotion.

Kiini Ibura Salaam on how to see your novel anew

Michael Swanwick on the sounds of Beowolf

XKCD on the importance of double-checking work and the SOH-CAH-TOA

Black Static interviews Simon Strantzas

1000 years of warfare in five minutes