If There Were No Benny Cemoli

"If There Were No Benny Cemoli" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the December, 1963 issue of Galaxy magazine with illustration by Lutjens.

Plot summary

On the tenth anniversary of a devastating atomic war on Earth, more Proxima Centaurians arrive to continue the rebuilding of the planet. A war crimes tribunal is looking for names of war criminals and a surviving homeopape of The New York Times seems to provide an answer.

Themes

Science fiction historian Darko Suvin wrote that "If There Were No Benny Cemoli" has the theme of the "transformation or transubstantiation of classical European fascism into new American power".

Reception

Algis Budrys said that Dick's story "is, as usual, markedly individual, and distinguished for his ability to draw fine-line social caricatures paradoxically freighted with verisimilitude".