This compilation of short stories and articles reminds me of what science fiction should be - an exploration of the possibilities of life. I wanted to say that my favorite story was Dearth by Aimee Bender about a single woman's surprise gift of potatoes. It was both matter of fact and poignant. I've just discovered Bender and plan to read all of her I can.

Then I need to say that Little Faces by Vonda McIntyre is my favorite in all the ways it explores gender possibilities - adults are women (or ships) and their companions, males with their little effective penises and gnashing teeth, live within them.

But it could be that Eleanor Arnason's Knapsack Poems is the favorite. A person, one of the goxhat, is composed of both intertwined and interacting bodies, some separated physically but all acting as one person. The main character, an itinerant poet is composed of male, female and neuter parts though some other goxhat are all female or all male after their differing sexes die or are killed. She shows that the persons who are all one sex tend to be vicious from lack of balance. And there's a baby.

Liking What you See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang explores the possibility of a device that disables one's ability to judge whether or not a person is good looking and its development during the time that advertisers have managed to amplify the desirability of their spokes people.

James Tiptree Jr.'s The Girl Who Was Plugged In follows a poor, ugly woman as she becomes a virtual Lindsay Lohan. It's the powerful linchpin of the whole series.

The non fiction articles are Shame by Pam Noles which explores race in science fiction and The Future of Female: Octavia Butler by Dorothy Allison in which Allison takes Butler to task for her continuing presentation of female characters who chose to give up their own freedom in order to promote the welfare of children. It just shows you how harsh Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina) can be if she points out the "softness" of Octavia Butler, one of the most pessimistic science fictions writers I've read.

Lastly L. Timmel Duchamp's letter to Alice Sheldon shows that Sheldon enjoyed writing as Tiptree and how she missed her anonymity when her sex became known. She worried that when people found out she was a woman they would care less about her writing in itself and more about the personality of the woman who wrote it.

I wish all science fiction could be so illuminating. ( )

The non-fiction is superb as always. Among the fiction, the stories that stand out are "Wooden Bride" (which is both funny and poignant), "The Glass Bottle Trick" (a modern take on Blue Beard), "Liking What You See: A Documentary", Tiptree's own "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" (Where do I find more Tiptree?!), and parts of "Little Faces"; and Ursula K. LeGuin's "Mountain Ways" of course, but I'd read that elsewhere before. Looking forward to more Tiptree anthologies. ( )