User:DoctorWho42/Cop-Out

"Cop-Out" is a short story by American author Barry N. Malzberg as K. M. O'Donnell. It was first published in the July 1968 issue of Escapade.

Background
"Cop-Out" was written in October 1964. It was subsequently rejected by Virginia Quarterly and Paris Review. In April 1967, it was rewritten and rejected by Esquire, Playboy, Kenyon Review, Atlantic, Harper's, Analog, Galaxy, and Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Publication history
"Cop-Out" was first published in the July 1968 issue of Escapade. In 1969, it appeared in the book Final War and Other Fantasies. In 1971, editor Robert Hoskins included it in the book The Far-Out People.

Plot
Two people (George and an unnamed narrator) begin a new Process. They are employees of Headquarters. In this cycle, they live in rooms called the "West 70's." The West 70's are covered in newspapers dating back 20 years. It is George's turn. They act out a play in Brooklyn Heights. They perform in Macy's, Washington Heights, Borough Park, and Rego Park. The unnamed narrator meets Brandt in a bar. The narrator buys him a "Manhattan." Brandt promises him a television pilot. He wants them to meet with the network on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the unnamed narrator and George present to the studio. Brandt asks them to do a Resurrection. Reluctantly, they improvise a Resurrection scene. A heavy man says they'll have them perform on a Sunday following "heavy adpub" and "some PR." Weeks later, George and the unnamed narrator prepare in the dressing room. George feels something is amiss. The narrator blames George's neuroses. When George offers to switch roles, the narrator says it is too late. There is a bottle of alcohol but the narrator ignores it. They perform to a live studio audience. Someone in the audience yells to crucify George. They realize it is Brandt. George and the unnamed narrator begin a crucifixion scene. The narrator offers to crucify George to the small tree. George accepts. They see it as an end of the Process. However, the audience demands the narrator to really crucify him. The narrator begins to hammer nails into George's hands. Brandt yells to begin flogging. They resist. Someone jumps on stage and uses a hammer flog George. George lies on the stage bleeding. The narrator runs into the dressing room. With the door shut, he drinks the bottle. Brandt shows up. The narrator is furious with him. Brandt begins to choke him. The narrator realizes he is working for "the Other Side." The dressing room disappears and the narrator wakes up in Headquarters. Headquarters is upset with him.

Reception
In its 1969 reprint for Ace Books's K. M. O'Donnell collection Final War and Other Fantasies, the author said "Cop-Out" "seems admirable if rather murky." In 2018, Rich Horton described it as a "crucifixion story, about two entities acting out the crucifixion, with a twist of course."