The influence of Herbert's secret muse - environmentalist Rachel Carson, whose Silent Spring appeared shortly before Analog began serializing Dune - distinguishes his own from these other entertainments. Inspired by Carson's defense of the balance of nature, her criticism of man's despoliation of the planet in the name of progress, the desert ecosystem portrayed in Herbert's Dune is far more than a setting: it's a mise en scène, a worldview.

via Hilobrow

One of the latest objects for sale is a coconut cup from the Asteroid Belt whose story was written by yours truly. It's just a tiny little snippet adapted from a novel I'm in the very early stages of writing, called Bachelor City, about life in the asteroid belt's biggest city after the nickel rush is over. Find out more about where this coconut cup came from, and bid on it!

Coconut Cup via eBay and Significant Objects

Among the participating authors are Matthew Battles, whose article on space travel we linked to the other day, as well as Susanna Breslin, Michelle Tea, Luc Sante, many more. They call their project Significant Objects. Each author buys a cheap trinket at a thrift store, invents a backstory for it, and then posts it on eBay. The opening bid price is exactly what they paid for it - usually just a few dollars. Most of the objects seem to be strange nick nacks, like a cow statue covered in red peppers or a plastic hot dog.

The project, conceived by io9 pal Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, is only a few days old, so it's hard to say for sure whether these objects will acquire substantial value based on their invented alternate histories. Still, it's obvious that some stories appeal more than others. Lucinda Rosenfeld's backstory about a cow-shaped creamer has already gotten 10 bids that have increased the value of the object from $1 to nearly $10. Maybe it's because her story is all about how Norman Rockwell was secretly depressed and left this cow creamer behind at a sanitorium where he spent time? I'm excited about an alternate America where Rockwell was depressed all the time.

So far none of the stories have been explicitly science fictional, but taken together they represent an interesting kink in the alternative history genre. One thing is certain: If Rosenfeld's success is any indication, these authors may actually get paid more for short fiction on eBay than they would at most publications.

Check out Significant Objects and see Rosenfeld's Cow Creamer on eBay.