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Stories of Your Life:

And Others
Front Cover
239 Reviews
Small Beer Press, Oct 26, 2010 - Fiction - 320 pages

This new edition of Ted Chiang's masterful first collection, "Stories of Your Life and Others," includes his first eight published stories plus the author's story notes and a cover that the author commissioned himself. Combining the precision and scientific curiosity of Kim Stanley Robinson with Lorrie Moore's cool, clear love of language and narrative intricacy, this award-winning collection offers readers the dual delights of the very, very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar.

"Stories of Your Life and Others" presents characters who must confront sudden change--the inevitable rise of automatons or the appearance of aliens--while striving to maintain some sense of normalcy. In the amazing and much-lauded title story, a grieving mother copes with divorce and the death of her daughter by drawing on her knowledge of alien languages and non-linear memory recollection. A clever pastiche of news reports and interviews chronicles a college's initiative to "turn off" the human ability to recognize beauty in "Liking What You See: A Documentary." With sharp intelligence and humor, Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty and constant change, and also by beauty and wonder.

Ted Chiang is one of the most celebrated science fiction authors writing today and is the author of numerous short stories, including most recently "Exhalation," which won the Hugo, British Science Fiction, and Locus awards. He lives near Seattle.

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5 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars
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No doubt Chiang is a great short story writer. - Goodreads
Two of the endings are horribly contrived. - Goodreads
The writing is gorgeous. - Goodreads
I love Chiang's writing. - Goodreads
What a wise, thoughtful writer. - Goodreads
Unfortunately, it had one of the contrived endings.) - Goodreads

Review: Stories of Your Life and Others

User Review  - Alexander - Goodreads

One of the most engrossing short story collections I've ever read. Full of fascinating concepts and alternate worlds, but the stories are not just about interesting ideas, but about how the mind ... Read full review

Review: Stories of Your Life and Others

User Review  - Carol - Goodreads

Review Ongoing Stories Read Thus Far: "Tower of Babylon": 4 stars "Story of Your Life": 5 stars "The Evolution of Human Science": 4 stars Currently reading: "Understand": most probable 5 stars WOW ... Read full review

All 239 reviews »

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About the author (2010)

Ted Chiang: Ted Chiang lives near Seattle, Washington.

Bibliographic information