In Regards to
Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick's Golden Apples of the Sun
18 February 1999
It as an interesting anachronism to find a Jewish Computer Salesman in Faeryland. One wouldn't expect that. On the other hand, perhaps one should. It seems that a great many Science Fiction / Fantasy authors have been Jewish. This may well be because of the escapist qualities of the genre(s). The Jewish people have had a tough history and they hardly have anywhere on this earth they can call home. (True, they have Israel, but that's a bag of worms in itself). No wonder they should be among the most vigorous about claiming territories in other worlds. And in fact, Levingston was attempting to stake out a territory for computer sales.
I don't know anything about "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". I can't comment on the analogy. In regard to giving people what they want as sales advice, I did see this. But more than sales advice, it seemed to me to be a reference to what the computer industry is doing today in the real world. The industry forces us to by expensive computers that we don't need when yesteryears computers are far cheaper and can still do most tasks we might wish to accomplish.