Misfit (short story)

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Misfit is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in the November 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. One of the earliest of his Future History stories, it was later included in the collections Revolt in 2100 and The Past Through Tomorrow.

[edit] Plot summary

The story concerns Andrew Jackson "Slipstick" Libby (here nicknamed Pinky, for his red hair), a boy from Earth with extraordinary mathematical ability but meager education. Finding few opportunities on Earth, he joins the Cosmic Construction Corps (see Civilian Conservation Corps), where his astounding abilities prove crucial in moving an asteroid from the Belt to near-Earth orbit.

"Slipstick" Libby became one of Heinlein's recurring characters, and would later appear in several works associated with Lazarus Long, among them Methuselah's Children and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.

v • d • e Robert A. Heinlein's Future History
Collections	The Past Through Tomorrow, Orphans of the Sky
Short Stories	Life-Line, "Let There Be Light", The Roads Must Roll, Blowups Happen, The Man Who Sold the Moon, Delilah and the Space Rigger, Space Jockey, Requiem, The Long Watch, Gentlemen, Be Seated!, The Black Pits of Luna, "It's Great to Be Back!", "—We Also Walk Dogs", Searchlight, Ordeal in Space, The Green Hills of Earth, Logic of Empire, The Menace from Earth, "If This Goes On—", Coventry, Misfit, Universe, Common Sense
Novels	Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for Love, To Sail Beyond the Sunset