Short Stories by Theodore Sturgeon [Study Guide]

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Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated.

Excerpt: "A Saucer of Loneliness" is a short story by Theodore Sturgeon which first appeared in Galaxy Magazine in February 1953. It was later adapted as a radio play for X Minus One in 1957; and as the second segment of the twenty-fifth episode (the first episode of the second season (1986-1987) of the television series The Twilight Zone. The short story is told from the POV of a man who rescues a would-be suicide at the sea shore. The unnamed woman tells her story reluctantly. She had heard and understood a message from a flying saucer. When she refused to reveal the message, she was imprisoned, rejected, and ridiculed, but she still would not say what the alien space ship had told her... In 2004, "A Saucer Of Loneliness" was nominated for a 'Retro Hugo' for Short Story 1954 (Hugo Award for Best Short Story). It was also the title of the seventh book in the anthology series "The Collected Short Stories of Theodore Sturgeon," published in 2000. The TV adaptation differs from the short story in several aspects mostly due to TV storytelling requirements. The woman's loneliness, revealed only gradually in the short story, is obvious from the beginning in the episode. The time frame is shorter. The resolution (the orb) is missing in the short story. Margaret is a lonely waitress who seems to enjoy spending time walking on the beach. When she returns home after work one night, her mother berates her for being alone at her age, that she should be marr...