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''Gladiator-At-Law'' is a satirical science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth. It was first published in 1955 by Ballantine Books and republished in 1986 by Baen Books. ==Plot introduction== The plot is typically topsy-turvy. Whereas in the earlier novel ''The Space Merchants'' the world was ruled by advertising agencies, in this novel corporate lawyers, especially the secretive firm of "Green, Charlesworth" have gained a stranglehold on the world. Business Law is an extremely lucrative career, while Criminal Law pays enough to afford some of the luxuries of life but not enough to save for the future. Success means living in a luxurious automated "bubble home" constructed by "GML", a corporation which is nominally public but whose shares are never traded openly. All work contracts include GML housing as part of the pay scale. Not having a contract job means having to live in a community such as "Belly Rave", originally a post-war suburban development for returning soldiers, now a slum ruled by teenage gangs. Its original name was "Belle Rêve". For the common people, there are bread-and-circuses entertainments in the form of gladiatorial games of various kinds, with monetary rewards for the winners. Some games pit elderly people against each other armed with padded clubs, but others are more deadly. There are two main protagonists. One is Norvell Bright, a nebbish designer of game spectacles for a second-rank corporation who is thrown out of his job, and his GML home, a victim of office politics. His gold-digger wife, instead of leaving him, returns with him to her roots in the slum, kicking her daughter out to join a gang and bring in some money. The other is Charles Mundin, an attorney scratching a living in criminal practice, barred from more lucrative commercial work by the licensing monopolies of the large law firms. By chance they encounter siblings Norma and Donald Lavin, who inherited 25% of GML stock from their father, the inventor of the Bubble House. Donald placed the share certificates in safe deposit box, and then was kidnapped and "conditioned", as are many common criminals. He can no longer tell anyone where the stock certificates are, and any attempt to obtain duplicate certificates from GML will surely result in more foul play. Helping the Lavins, they discover the truth behind GML and confront "Green, Charlesworth", whose true nature is more bizarre than anyone could imagine. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gladiator-At-Law」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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