Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Fairy Tale Spotlight: A Flourish of Strumpets [Short Story Review]

"A Flourish of Strumpets" is a short story written by Richard Matheson. It was published in 1956. Not particularly the type of story I expected from the 50's, but it was perfectly welcome in any case.

This story could be considered a comedy. It is rather amusing, but it also has an important message about the social degradation that has always been happening in America. It is a sadly relatable story that reminds me that I am living in a country that is slowly becoming a dystopia.

The main plot of the story has to do with prostitution. We all know about it. We see and hear about it all the time. They can be found in brothels in some states, and, in others, they can be seen on the streets, selling their bodies illegally. But what if they were selling themselves door to door?

That is where we find ourselves in "A Flourish of Strumpets." The world has finally began to devolve to the point where prostitutes are openly visiting all the houses on the street, looking for any takers. It's hilarious. It's sad. It's also not that far-fetched. The more desensitized we become as a people, the closer we get to stuff like this. It may take slightly different forms, but it's happening.

I totally recommend "A Flourish of Strumpets." It had a great ending too. It's not really in the same vein as his Twilight Zone styled stuff, but it's still a great idea that was worth writing about.

This blog was written on April 24, 2023.

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6 comments:

  1. As human life becomes cheap, everything about us is cheapened. Selling ourselves is expected in this world of sin. Prostitution is just overt demonstration of this. When people become comfortable selling themselves, they expect the same from others. SAD. Yes, America is moving in that direction.

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  2. Sadly I could see the left promoting the "profession" as "sex positive" very soon. Interesting that the subject was even written about in the 50s. It's good it turned out to be a great story though, I need to check out Matheson's work.

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  3. The way our society is going, something like that may very well happen. We are more comfortable when not in the immediate vicinity of the decadence. To have it at your door would make things much more difficult.

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    1. The scary thing is that things like this would just become normalized.

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