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Original Essays | June 11, 2013

Sandi Doughton: IMG Preparing for the Next Megaquake

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Note: Sandi Doughton, along with an expert panel, will be appearing at Powell's City of Books on Friday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. When my editor at... Continue »
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Stories of Your Life And Others

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Stories of Your Life And Others Cover

ISBN13: 9781931520720
ISBN10: 1931520720
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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, Ted Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty and constant change, and also by beauty and wonder.

Review:

"Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales...this collection is a pure marvel. [Ted] Chiang is so exhilarating so original so stylish he just leaves you speechless. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it." Junot Diaz

Review:

"Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang's stories emerge slowly...but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal." Lev Grossman

Review:

"United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion." China Mieville

Review:

"Ted is a national treasure...each of those stories is a goddamned jewel." Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing

Review:

"Confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys." Seattle Times

Review:

"Chiang derides lazy thinking, weasels it out of its hiding place, and leaves it cowering." Washington Post

Review:

"He puts the science back in science fiction — brilliantly." Booklist (starred review)

Review:

"Essential. You wont know SF if you don't read Ted Chiang." Greg Bear

Synopsis:

One of the best short story collections of the last ten years, back in print in a new edition.
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About the Author

Ted Chiang was born in Port Jefferson, New York and holds a degree in computer science from Brown University. In 1989 he attended the Clarion Writers Workshop. His fiction has won three Hugos, four Nebulas, three Locus awards, and a Sturgeon award. He lives near Seattle, Washington.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
BritMandelo, August 14, 2012 (view all comments by BritMandelo)
This collection--with stories spanning from 1990 to 2002--was a dense read, but thoroughly enjoyable. Where Chiang's stories work, they work, exercising the mind as thoroughly as the heart. "Stories of Your Life" is a good example of this--moving, intense, and smart. "Division by Zero" made me tear up, and it was about math.

On the other hand, a few of the stories didn't quite work for me, despite the meticulous, slow build-up to a big punch of an ending that makes some of his fiction so brilliant. For example, the endless dialogue describing the scientific theories between characters in "Seventy-Two Letters" taxed my interest in the characters to the point where I no longer cared much about the ending.

It's a delicate balance to maintain between the scientific exposition and the story, but 95% of the time, Chiang does a fine job. This is a totally worthwhile buy; great read.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781931520720
Author:
Chiang, Ted
Publisher:
Small Beer Press
Subject:
Science Fiction - Short Stories
Subject:
Science Fiction and Fantasy-Short Stories
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
20101031
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.5 x 1 in
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Related Subjects


Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » Adventure

Stories of Your Life And Others New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$16.00 In Stock
Product details 320 pages Small Beer Press - English 9781931520720 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales...this collection is a pure marvel. [Ted] Chiang is so exhilarating so original so stylish he just leaves you speechless. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it."
"Review" by , "Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang's stories emerge slowly...but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal."
"Review" by , "United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang's calm passion."
"Review" by , "Ted is a national treasure...each of those stories is a goddamned jewel."
"Review" by , "Confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys."
"Review" by , "Chiang derides lazy thinking, weasels it out of its hiding place, and leaves it cowering."
"Review" by , "He puts the science back in science fiction — brilliantly." (starred review)
"Review" by , "Essential. You wont know SF if you don't read Ted Chiang."
"Synopsis" by , One of the best short story collections of the last ten years, back in print in a new edition.
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