Project Gutenberg 2016-01-10 Public domain in the USA. 85 Colvin, Donald Barth, Ernest Kurt 1929 2001 Barth Barth, Erni Barth, Ernie Half past Alligator Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Half Past Alligator" by Donald Colvin is a science fiction story written in the early 1950s. The book explores themes of alien culture and the interaction between humans and extraterrestrial beings, particularly focusing on the dynamics of cooperation and leadership in a primitive society. It presents a fictional world where native creatures known as Quxas struggle to survive amidst external threats, while human characters attempt to understand and assist them. In the narrative, Bill Bradley, a human camp leader on an alien planet, navigates his feelings for Candace Mathews and his frustration with Vance Montgomery, a commanding figure in the appraisal group. As baseball emerges as a bonding activity between the humans and the Quxas, Bill observes the significant cultural differences that complicate their interactions. Tension builds when Montgomery imposes a monarch-like leadership on the Quxas, appointing the brutish Ratakka as their king, which leads to oppressive dynamics. However, through the spirit of teamwork and play, Bill influences the Quxas positively, turning their love for baseball into a vehicle for self-governance and cooperation. The story culminates in a confrontation between the newly empowered Quxas and their former king, raising questions about leadership, culture, and societal development in both alien and human contexts. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Baseball -- Fiction Extrasolar planets -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 55899 55882 2024-09-21T09:52:39.949138 2023-09-22T07:09:35.841382 text/html text/html 52341 2016-01-10T07:37:42 text/html; charset=us-ascii 214198 2016-01-10T07:37:44 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 239345 2024-09-21T09:52:41.901069 application/epub+zip 238267 2024-09-21T09:52:40.366104 application/epub+zip 81894 2024-09-21T09:52:40.142077 application/epub+zip 275425 2024-09-21T09:52:43.209056 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 268847 2024-09-21T09:52:41.675067 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 112968 2022-09-23T06:51:43.018501 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 48427 48326 2024-09-21T09:52:39.794089 2023-09-22T07:09:35.683368 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 48654 2016-01-10T07:37:42 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19338 2016-01-10T07:37:44 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19926 2024-09-21T09:52:43.341069 application/rdf+xml 27289 2024-09-21T09:52:40.208074 image/jpeg 4477 2024-09-21T09:52:40.174098 image/jpeg 215177 2024-09-21T09:52:39.966076 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog