Project Gutenberg 2019-11-16 Public domain in the USA. 125 Fontenay, Charles L. 1917 2007 Fontenay, Charles Louis Bargain Basement Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1959 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Bargain Basement" by Charles L. Fontenay is a science fiction novella written during the late 1950s. The story revolves around the peculiar happenings at a basement store that offers inexplicably low prices on futuristic items, hinting at the existence of a time anomaly. The narrative explores themes of time travel, love, and unintended consequences resulting from choices made through the shop's unique bargains. The storyline follows Jack Hanshaw and his roommate Ken Adaman as they visit a strange basement shop filled with bizarre merchandise sold at a fraction of its potential value. While trying to resolve an issue with a malfunctioning television set he purchased, Jack becomes embroiled in a series of events that reveal the shop's connection to the future. As Ken acquires an astonishingly cheap, futuristic car, Jack's jealousy leads him to use a drug from the future to win over the affections of Lorene, the woman they both desire. The culmination of their actions brings forth a paradox in which their choices alter the very fabric of reality—resulting in the dissolution of the store and its products, despite Jack retaining his marriage to Lorene. Consequently, the story reflects on how love, ambition, and the delicate nature of time can intertwine in surprising and profound ways. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 85.5 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Triangles (Interpersonal relations) -- Fiction Time travel -- Fiction Stores, Retail -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 53644 2025-07-24T07:39:10.768268 text/html 30021 2024-10-17T14:36:57 text/html 408890 2025-07-24T07:39:12.605258 application/epub+zip 407739 2025-07-24T07:39:11.135236 application/epub+zip 75545 2025-07-24T07:39:10.924269 application/epub+zip 445653 2025-07-24T07:39:13.931220 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 438214 2025-07-24T07:39:12.388228 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 106250 2022-09-27T12:29:31.342081 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 46718 2025-07-24T07:39:10.653242 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 26994 2024-10-17T14:36:57 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17351 2025-07-24T07:39:14.094219 application/rdf+xml 22019 2025-07-24T07:39:11.006238 image/jpeg 3935 2025-07-24T07:39:10.964260 image/jpeg 349549 2025-07-24T07:39:10.781249 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