Project Gutenberg 2010-06-03 Public domain in the USA. 137 Ludwig, Edward W. 1920 1990 Ludwig, Edward William Freas, Kelly 1922 2005 Freas, Frank Kelly The Holes and John Smith Produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction June 1954. Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Holes and John Smith" by Edward W. Ludwig is a science fiction short story published in the mid-20th century. Set in a futuristic Martian environment, the story revolves around a struggling band in a cocktail lounge who encounter a mysterious and enigmatic musician named John Smith. The narrative explores themes of music, time travel, and the peculiarities of existence, ultimately conveying the complexity of human experience through whimsical yet profound dialog. In the story, the band led by Jimmie Stanley is facing the threat of job loss due to the absence of their bass player. Their fate changes when John Smith arrives with an ancient instrument called a Zloomph. His playing transforms the atmosphere of the lounge, drawing in an audience and capturing the attention of their critical manager. However, as the narrative unfolds, it is revealed that John is obsessed with finding a specific "hole" that he believes will return him to his rightful time dimension after he accidentally fell through it. Despite his musical talent and the applause he receives, John's quest to return home ultimately leads to his mysterious disappearance, leaving the band grappling with the loss of their best player and the void he left behind. (This is an automatically generated summary.) http://book.klll.cc/files/32667/32667-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 86.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Mars (Planet) -- Fiction Musicians -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 49331 2025-08-13T09:43:22.632780 text/html 45565 2010-06-03T05:20:36 text/html 124103 2025-08-13T09:43:24.653775 application/epub+zip 122902 2025-08-13T09:43:23.078749 application/epub+zip 78871 2025-08-13T09:43:22.814777 application/epub+zip 263692 2025-08-13T09:43:25.946788 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 256234 2025-08-13T09:43:24.253788 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 108471 2022-09-15T05:44:47.396274 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 41545 2025-08-13T09:43:22.495780 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 41382 2010-06-03T05:20:36 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19677 2025-08-13T09:43:26.081754 application/rdf+xml 25511 2025-08-13T09:43:22.888787 image/jpeg 4312 2025-08-13T09:43:22.850765 image/jpeg 345523 2010-06-03T05:20:38 application/octet-stream application/zip 16504 2010-06-03T05:20:38 application/octet-stream application/zip 357955 2025-08-13T09:43:22.646788 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