Project Gutenberg 2008-09-05 Public domain in the USA. 110 Pangborn, Edgar 1909 1976 The Good Neighbors Published in Galaxy magazine, June 1960. Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "The Good Neighbors" by Edgar Pangborn is a science fiction short story published in the early 1960s. The narrative explores themes of otherness and compassion through the lens of an extraterrestrial visit. Set against the backdrop of a near-futuristic Earth, it deals with the repercussions of an alien creature's unintended arrival, turning a moment of curiosity into chaos and tragedy. The story follows a massive alien creature that escapes from a spaceship, causing panic as it drifts through major American cities, creating destruction without malice. The creature's lamentation echoes through urban spaces, stirring fear as military forces scramble to address the situation. Eventually, the alien is brought down in New York City by a misguided military pilot, leading to catastrophic damage and loss of life. In the aftermath, the alien's home species sends an apology, expressing regret for the chaos caused by their child's mishap with the airlock and offering a comically inadequate reimbursement to those affected. Through this tale, Pangborn critiques human reactions to the unknown, illustrating how fear can lead to misunderstanding and tragedy, while also hinting at a shared responsibility among neighbors—whether human or extraterrestrial. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 72.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: American Literature 40833 2025-08-11T05:35:32.346635 text/html 36789 2021-01-04T02:40:07 text/html 166762 2025-08-11T05:35:36.292591 application/epub+zip 165461 2025-08-11T05:35:34.088617 application/epub+zip 80652 2025-08-11T05:35:32.980614 application/epub+zip 249291 2025-08-11T05:35:37.897600 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 241463 2025-08-11T05:35:35.575611 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 132795 2022-09-12T10:04:07.339993 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 32346 2025-08-11T05:35:32.087636 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 32223 2021-01-04T02:40:07 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20687 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 78288 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 1965820 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 79369 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 80252 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 79479 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 24788 2008-08-16T05:22:00 application/octet-stream 24818 2025-08-11T05:35:38.033582 application/rdf+xml 12587 2025-08-11T05:35:33.475630 image/jpeg 3408 2025-08-11T05:35:33.226632 image/jpeg 98451 2021-01-04T02:40:07 application/octet-stream application/zip 12651 2021-01-04T02:40:07 application/octet-stream application/zip 163212 2025-08-11T05:35:32.354631 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia