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A Thing of Beauty [MultiFormat]
eBook by Norman Spinrad
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eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description:  This story was originally written for an anthology called 2020, and the time-frame was the only requirement. It was written at a time when the Japanese were buying lots of companies in America. How far might they really go, and why? And who is the smart guy here and who is the nikulturni rube? An exploration of a culturally fallen America and Japanese esthetics.
eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Analog, 1973
Fictionwise Release Date: July 2007
12 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: eReader (PDB) [34 KB]
, ePub (EPUB) [37 KB]
, Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [19 KB]
, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [162 KB]
, Palm Doc (PDB) [21 KB]
, Microsoft Reader (LIT) [79 KB]
, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [92 KB]
, hiebook (KML) [71 KB]
, Sony Reader (LRF) [42 KB]
, iSilo (PDB) [17 KB]
, Mobipocket (PRC) [21 KB]
, Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [49 KB]
, OEBFF Format (IMP) [32 KB]
Words: 6033
Reading time: 17-24 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
"There's a gentleman by the name of Mr. Shiburo Ito to see you," my intercom said. "He is interested in the purchase of an historic artifact of some significance."
While I waited for him to enter my private office, I had computer central display his specs on the screen discreetly built into the back of my desk. My Mr. Ito was none other than Ito of Ito Freight Boosters of Osaka; there was no need to purchase a readout from Dun & Bradstreet's private banks. 1f Shiburo Ito of Ito, Boosters wrote a check for anything short of the national debt, it could be relied upon not to bounce.
The slight, balding man who glided into my office wore a red silk kimono with a richly brocaded black obi, Mendocino needlepoint by the look of it. No doubt back in the miasmic smog of Osaka, he bonged the peons with the latest skins from Savile Row. Everything about him was just so; he purchased confidently on that razor edge between class and ostentation that only the Japanese can handle with such grace, and then only when they have millions of hard yen to back them up. Mr. Ito would be no sucker. He would want whatever he wanted for precise reasons all his own, and would not be budgeable from the center of his desires. The typical heavyweight Japanese businessman, a prime example of the breed that's pushed us out of the center of the international arena.mddddddd
Mr. Ito bowed almost imperceptibly as he handed me his card. I countered by merely bobbing my head in his direction and remaining seated. These face and posture games may seem ridiculous, but you can't do business with the Japanese without playing them.
As he took a seat before me, Ito drew a black cylinder from the sleeve of his kimono and ceremoniously place it on the desk before me.
"I have been given to understand that you are a connoisseur of Filmore posters of the early-to-mid 1960s period, Mr. Harris," he said. "The repute of your collection has penetrated even to the environs of Osaka and Kyoto, where I make my habitation. Please permit me to make this minor addition. The thought that a contribution of mint may repose in such illustrious surroundings will afford me much pleasure and place me forever in your debt."
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