“The Whore of Babylon”

Title“The Whore of Babylon”
Year for Search1986
AuthorsZeldis, Leon [Léon]
Secondary AuthorsAldiss, Brian W[ilson](1925-2017), and Lundwall, Sam J.
Secondary TitleThe Penguin World Omnibus of Science Fiction. An Anthology
Pagination78-97
Date Published1986
PublisherPenguin Books
Place PublishedHarmondsworth, Eng.
ISBN Number9780140080674
KeywordsChilean author, Israeli author, Male author
Annotation

The story is set in an extremely authoritarian dystopia in Israel, with one of the first things learned in school is “I am free to obey, and I am happy to be free.” In the story his father takes him to the slums for his first visit to a prostitute, which has almost nothing to do with sex. 

Info Notes

First publication

Author Note

The Israeli author (b. 1930) was born in Argentina, lived in Chile from shortly after his birth until, after attending the State Technical University in Chile, he studied textile engineering in the U.S., returned to Chile, and then moved to Israel, where he was a textile designer, an active Mason who became Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Israel in 1996, published on Freemasonry, and was Honorary Consul of Chile in Tel Aviv.

Full Text

1986 Zeldis, Leon [Léon] (b. 1930). “The Whore of Babylon.” The Penguin World Omnibus of Science Fiction. An Anthology. Ed. Brian W[ilson]. Aldiss and Sam Lundwall (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1986), 78-87. First publication.

The story is set in an extremely authoritarian dystopia in Israel, with one of the first things learned in school is “I am free to obey, and I am happy to be free.” In the story his father takes him to the slums for his first visit to a prostitute, which has almost nothing to do with sex. The Israeli author was born in Argentina, lived in Chile from shortly after his birth until, after attending the State Technical University in Chile, he studied textile engineering in the U.S., returned to Chile, and then moved to Israel, where he was a textile designer, an active Mason who became Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Israel in 1996, published on Freemasonry, and was Honorary Consul of Chile in Tel Aviv.