Almighty Dollar in Space (Ed Reads Short Sci-fi, vol. VI)

What happens when the American dream goes interplanetary? This collection gathers eight sharp, satirical stories from science fiction's golden age, each one asking the same question: can humanity leave its obsession with money behind when it leaves Earth? From space tourists paying $1000 a plate for orbital meals, to a cynical insurance investigator uncover a too-good-to-be-true scam on an alien world, to desperate prospectors betting everything on Venusian gold, these tales gleefully expose the contradictions of capitalism aimed at the stars. Some stories are absurdist comedies; others are darker, following men who gamble their futures on impossible horizons. What unites them is a wickedly prescient understanding that human greed travels faster than light. Written when space still felt like the final frontier, these stories capture a moment when Americans believed the cosmos might finally offer a fresh start and then immediately wondered how to monetize it.