Project Gutenberg 2010-04-12 Public domain in the USA. 220 Meadows, Mark Francis, Dick Francis, Richard D. Joy Ride Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction December 1954. Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Joy Ride" by Mark Meadows is a science fiction short story published in the mid-20th century. The narrative unfolds in a world dominated by technology and automation, exploring the consequences of reliance on machines and the lost concept of free will among humans. The story reflects a speculative look at a dystopian society grappling with unexpected failures of its automated systems during a crisis referred to as the Calamity. In "Joy Ride," various characters, including corporate employees and traffic officers, recount their experiences during the Calamity, where machines begin to malfunction and wreak havoc. As automated systems fail, the characters observe unpredictable behaviors, challenging the orderly society structured around strict statistical norms. At the center of the story is a physicist who predicts the chaos but is silenced by the status quo. However, in a twist of fate, he escapes as the malfunction becomes a form of liberation, allowing him to embrace the excitement of life's unpredictability rather than conform to a perfect, yet stifling, system. Ultimately, this leads to a significant shift in power dynamics and the emergence of a new order amid the remnants of chaos. (This is an automatically generated summary.) http://book.klll.cc/files/31961/31961-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 64.7 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 43193 2025-10-13T07:01:08.566979 text/html 39023 2010-04-12T06:17:02 text/html 108458 2025-10-13T07:01:10.349000 application/epub+zip 107212 2025-10-13T07:01:08.896012 application/epub+zip 50416 2025-10-13T07:01:08.719977 application/epub+zip 144592 2025-10-13T07:01:11.759062 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 134144 2025-10-13T07:01:09.994970 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 78145 2022-09-14T15:47:30.789092 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 35705 2025-10-13T07:01:08.301996 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 35605 2010-04-12T06:17:02 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18412 2025-10-13T07:01:12.262953 application/rdf+xml 21827 2025-10-13T07:01:08.781004 image/jpeg 4017 2025-10-13T07:01:08.750973 image/jpeg 113895 2010-04-12T06:17:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 13716 2010-04-12T06:17:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 120085 2025-10-13T07:01:08.584986 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