‘Ting-a-Ling’ by Jack Dann

Marilyn Monroe is having an affair with James Dean; there is no speculation here, only an attempt to trade on the mystique of two Twentieth Century icons. This sort of piggybacking is all too common in science fiction – this was one of the complaints about this year’s shortlist – but it is still a shame to see such a story in a supposedly forwarded looking anthology. Dann actually writes quite well and does a good job of evoking the couple but in the end it is just an exercise in necrophilia.

Quality: **
Shiftiness: *