Manfred de Kooning thinks of himself as an intellectual. He and his contemporaries are children of the modern age, wiling away their days in esoteric pursuits, imagining themselves to be great thinkers, philosophers, artists and lovers. One of his passions, along with most of his fellows, is the flying of computerized hang gliders over places such as the Grand Canyon. When a new, experimental hang glider is displayed at a small get together with some of the world's most dazzling socialites, Kooning cannot help but assist a fellow socialite in the theft of the machine. When it is crashed near the crowd, the pilot is praised and lauded for his daring act.

At once an entertaining SF piece on the effects of rapidly proliferating technology and a discourse on the selfishness of young people who have everything but act as though they have nothing, "The Beautiful and the Sublime" is a sublimely cutting piece on a society that is possessed of very little beauty.

Published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, June 1986.

Reprinted in:

• The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Fourth Annual Collection (1987)
• Crystal Express (1989)
• The Ascent of Wonder (1994)