Project Gutenberg 2019-05-03 Public domain in the USA. 108 Jones, Alice Eleanor 1916 1981 Nearing, Alice Eleanor Freas, Kelly 1922 2005 Freas, Frank Kelly The Happy Clown Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, December 1955 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Happy Clown" by Alice Eleanor Jones is a science fiction novella written in the mid-20th century. The narrative unfolds in a future society characterized by enforced conformity and societal perfection, exploring themes of individuality and nonconformity through the life of a young boy named Steven Russell, who struggles against the pressures of a homogenized world. Throughout the story, Steven, born a nonconformist in a society that prioritizes uniformity, faces numerous challenges stemming from his discontent with the artificial perfection surrounding him. As he grows up, his peculiarities lead his parents to seek help from a clinic, where his brilliance is recognized but ultimately pressured into conformity through a procedure known as "Steyner." This leads Steven into a successful career as the Happy Clown, a television persona that epitomizes the very ideals he despises. Despite achieving societal approval, he grapples with feelings of loneliness and a loss of identity, especially after a traumatic experience surrounding the woman he loves, Denise. The story culminates in his resignation from the acting world and a return to a more ordinary life, revealing both the price of conformity and the lingering desire for authentic connections. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 72.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Psychological fiction Conformity -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 57252 2025-06-23T14:43:58.936034 text/html 53399 2019-05-03T13:37:50 text/html 243352 2025-06-23T14:44:00.904049 application/epub+zip 242199 2025-06-23T14:43:59.375038 application/epub+zip 89123 2025-06-23T14:43:59.115044 application/epub+zip 280732 2025-06-23T14:44:02.279030 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 273003 2025-06-23T14:44:00.675040 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 120270 2022-09-26T23:25:30.625669 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 50824 2025-06-23T14:43:58.815034 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 50736 2019-05-03T13:37:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19983 2025-06-23T14:44:02.423998 application/rdf+xml 30978 2025-06-23T14:43:59.213027 image/jpeg 5327 2025-06-23T14:43:59.164020 image/jpeg 529068 2019-05-03T13:37:50 application/octet-stream application/zip 19566 2019-05-03T13:37:50 application/octet-stream application/zip 531714 2025-06-23T14:43:58.951047 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