Street of Dreams, Feet of Clay

'Sheckley, Robert. "Street of Dreams, Feet of Clay."' Galaxy Feb. 1968. Frequently rpt., including Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Science Fiction. Jack Dann, ed. New York: Harper, 1974. New York: Pocket, 1975. See Contento, Index, for other rpts.

The model city of Bellwether is a well-made machine, just right for human life, it thinks, coming equipped with both a voice and AI. Bellwether's consciousness, however, is that of a stereotypically overprotective Jewish mother, making the city, as John Sladek notes, "the kind of concentration camp we are now building for the future" (rev. Wandering Stars in Foundation #11-#12: 65). Cf. Williamson's humanoids stories (q.v. this Category).