Hi, all,

I need an exact quote from the 1943 story "Doodad". I only have the Russian translation, and the place I need, where the store owner explains what he's selling, goes something like this (translating back into English):

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We deal here with the emergence of semantically inexact denotation, suitable only to describe any object: from chicken egg to crank case. A wig or a rag can be called "a doodad". Doodad is not any particular object. It is a thousand different objects.
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Thanks in advance for your help!

- M

I don't have the answer for you, because I have never seen a copy of this story. It has never been collected in any of Ray Bradbury's books.

However, if it helps, you can find the story in a book called 'Wizards of Odd', edited by Peter Haining (Ace, 1997), and in the September 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

You can also find Ray's story "Doodad" in a 1966 anthology called STRANGE SIGNPOSTS, edited by Roger Elwood and Sam Moskowitz.

Thanks, Phil and Richard. I actually hoped somebody has it. If not, I'll try to find it in the library.

As a sidenote, I wonder if it was never republished, why does nobody have it online...

- M

"Doodad" was the only story RB ever sold to John W. Campbell, and according to Ray himself--the story stunk, and Campbell only bought it to get rid of him.

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Well, he may not have found the best possible ending, but the idea is truly brilliant and fascinating. To me, it smells fine.

But anyway, I do need the quote, really. I want to quote it in a paper on lignuistics. Maybe someone does have a copy?

Thanks again

- M

You can buy a used copy of the anthology Wizards of Odd from Amazon.com for $0.95, if you don't mind paying postage to Russia.

RB himself owns the copyright to the story, and if he hasn't used it in any of his own books, he probably doesn't like it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Walloon,

DM, I pulled out my copy of STRANGE SIGNPOSTS. Here is the quote you are looking for from "Doodad": "Therefore, we have the birth of incorrect semantic labels that can be used to describe anything from a hen's nest to a motor-beetle crankcase. A doohingey can be the name of a scrub mop or a toupee. It's a term used freely by everybody in a certain culture. A doohingey isn't just one thing. It's a thousand things."

Incidentally, confirming what grasstains said,when I had Ray sign his story "Doodad" in my copy of STRANGE SIGNPOSTS, I commented on how, after a great deal of trying by him, he had finally sold a story to John Campbell. Ray replied, tongue-in-cheek, "I think he bought the story just to get rid of me!"

Thank you, Richard, very much indeed!

- M