What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I am looking for the name of story and author named for a specific science fiction short story. In this story, aliens arrive on Earth and initially people are impressed by them. But eventually we discovered that the aliens are not very smart and basically depend on their computers to do everything. At the end of the story. One of the aliens is trying to buy the Brooklyn Bridge from the human.

It is mandatory to include genre and plot details in your topic header, as per the Group Rules.

Because this group is so huge, we will close threads that don't adhere to this requirement.

Please add more plot details to your topic header from what you've already written.

Morris, I copied a few book details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it.

Around what year did you read this short story?

Is it for kids, teens or adults?

Do you find it in a sci-fi anthology? Do the stories have a particular theme? Written by a single or multiple authors?

If I knew those details, I probably would not be asking the question here. The only thing I can supply is that I probably read it in an anthology sometime in the 70s.

But in any event, thank you for the help. I was not sure how long the "header" should be.

The Rule of the Door and Other Fanciful Regulations by Lloyd Biggle Jr.?

The Google Books preview has aliens trying to buy the Brooklyn Bridge in the short story Petty Larceny:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...

Good find! This does match most my original description, but the aliens in it seem to actually get the better of the humans in the end. Still, it's a great story. In the one I am trying to identify, the aliens really were not very intelligent. They relied on their computers and technology for any task requiring intelligence. For instance, they arrived at Earth able to speak English. When the humans asked about this, the aliens just said that the computers taught them as they were on the journey here.

Could you be combining stories? Seems unusual there would be more than one short story selling the Brooklyn Bridge to aliens. Not impossible, but it is very specific.

Well, I know of at least two now, plus the one I am looking for.
(There was a Reddit thread with this same question from a few years ago; one post suggested a different story from the one you linked to, still not the one I read lo those many years ago.
I guess its a genre? Brooklyn Bridge Science Fiction? :)

LOL - You may be onto something. I'll keep an eye out. I just found a reference to Bugs Bunny selling the bridge to a gullible old man. I didn't realize this was so popular.

Selling someone the Brooklyn Bridge was a common trope back in the day to indicate that the prospective buyer was not too bright.