The Worlds of Joe Shannon

"The Worlds of Joe Shannon" by Frank M. Robinson is a science fiction story about alternate realities. The main character, Joe Shannon, who is a talented electronics engineer, builds a "Paradise booth" that lets people enter worlds where their dreams come true, because he thinks too many people are unhappy. At first, not many believe in his idea, but soon people start using the booths to escape their lives. However, Joe and his friend Harry realize there are problems when people from their town start disappearing into these perfect worlds. The book ends with Joe understanding that everyone is unhappy, so he decides to find his own paradise, which leaves the town of Fremont empty. The story talks about dreams, reality, and what happens when you try to escape, and it makes you think about what happiness really means and why human connections are important.