3,837 words (15-20 minutes)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Satire
Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction in March, 1958

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The Last Letter is a satirical take on a hyper-commercialized, automated future where advertising dominates all communication, and the concept of a personal letter is so alien that it breaks postal machines and triggers a planetary security crisis. When a young man named Richard Rowe dares to write a handwritten love letter to a woman he barely met, his innocent act causes a bureaucratic meltdown involving AI-run postal services, the Solar Bureau of Investigation, and even the mobilization of the space fleet. Leiber cleverly critiques consumerism, surveillance, and the loss of personal connection in a fast-paced, darkly humorous tale.