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Synopsis
Theodore Sturgeon was a genuine American master. Praised, revered, and even envied by the likes of Bradbury, Vonnegut, and King, his short stories contain some of his best work.
In "Thunder and Roses," soon after a nuclear Holocaust, a starlet gives one final performance during which she makes an odd request of the few remaining survivors. In perhaps his most praised story, "The Man Who Lost the Sea," a man riffs on memory and experience on the way to the story's powerful conclusion. And in the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning masterpiece, "Slow Sculpture," a young woman with a lump in her breast chances upon a strange healer. With unrivaled emotional impact, Theodore Sturgeon's stories are funny, lyrical, surprising, and provoking.
Kirkus Reviews
A dozen stories from Sturgeon (1918-85; Godbody, 1986, etc), who published nearly all of his famous stories in a 20year period from the mid1940s—and who thereafter was silent. His themes were transcendence, sexual and social diversity and tolerance, and spiritual rebirth; his typical protagonists were tormented and alienated until they found healing peace and joy through contact with higher beings. Such themes arouse little antagonism today, but at the time many editors would not publish fiction dealing frankly with sexuality, love, or passion. "Thunder and Roses" boldly confronts the aftermath of a nuclear attack. "The Golden Helix" features aliens and, yes, transcendence. "Killdozer" was the original homicidal vehicle. In "The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff," benevolent aliens test humanity for the reflex that marks the truly transcendental being. "The Man Who Lost the Sea" is an astronaut dying on Mars. And in "Slow Sculpture," a woman dying of cancer meets a remarkable alien doctor.