Gravy Train

Titus McWorther, a wealthy retiree living in splendid isolation on his privately engineered planetoid, only wants one final luxury to complete his perfect life: an automatic bather. Instead, a bizarre message-interfusion error turns his simple request into a diplomatic signal, and suddenly the Western Cluster, rival powers, and a bewildered prime minister all believe McWorther's World has become a matter of interstellar importance. What follows is a brilliantly escalating satire of bureaucracy, diplomacy, and commerce, where a single clerical mistake triggers aid shipments, political outrage, and a cold-war-style contest for influence. As crates, machinery, grain, entertainers, musicians, dancers, and debaters pour onto the tiny world, Titus and Edna watch their peaceful home become a surreal festival of noise, culture, and chaos. The planet is buried under freight, syrup floods the cellar, the hypertransmitter fails, and rival orchestras and debating teams battle for dominance while officials on both sides keep sending more. Caught in the middle, Titus can only stare in weary disbelief as presidents, emperors, and corporate executives rush toward his world, each convinced he stands at the center of history. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.