Robert Sheckley was a writer of satirical science fiction. His best work, much of it published in Galaxy magazine during the 1950s, offered ferociously funny takes on consumerism, mass media, and Cold War paranoia. He was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2001. 

“Wherever you go in the galaxy, you can find a food business, a house-building business, a war business, a peace business, a governing business, and so forth. And, of course, a God business, which is called 'religion,' and which is a particularly reprehensible line of endeavor. ”

– Robert Sheckley, Dimension of Miracles