I figured out what it was, now where was it?

November 14, 2011 11:04 AM

Where did I read Ursula K. LeGuin's short story "Solitude"?

I know it originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and was later collected in The Birthday of the World. But I'm almost sure I didn't read it in either of those sources. Has it been collected elsewhere? I'm so sure it's in something I own, but, um, I have a lot of books.

posted by endless_forms to writing & language (8 answers total)

Do you have the date it was published in F&SF? That might help some of us narrow it down in our own ridiculous collections.
posted by Seamus at 11:05 AM on November 14, 2011

"Solitude" - December 1994 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

The blurb on Wikipedia : "Takes place on Eleven-Soro on the fringes of the Ekumen. Society has fragmented - men and women live apart, and adult women do not even enter each others houses. The story is told by the daughter of a mobile of the Ekumen who grows up in this society."
posted by endless_forms at 11:09 AM on November 14, 2011

Is it this: The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction?

Go to worldcat.org and search Le Guin as author and Solitude as keyword.
posted by mareli at 11:12 AM on November 14, 2011

Mareli: I don't think it was that, largely because I think I would have read more of the stories in that anthology, and I don't recognize any of them. Which suggests it's a good solution to the practical problem (I want to reread this story), but it doesn't solve the underlying mystery.

Good find, though!
posted by endless_forms at 11:20 AM on November 14, 2011

isfdb
posted by Zed at 11:21 AM on November 14, 2011

Use the worldcat link I provided to search through the various places this story was published.
posted by mareli at 11:21 AM on November 14, 2011

ISFDB to the rescue!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 11:21 AM on November 14, 2011

The ISFDB gets it -- it's in Nebula Awards 31. (I didn't see it in the WorldCat search, but now I know something else WorldCat can do for me.)

Thank you everyone!
posted by endless_forms at 12:51 PM on November 14, 2011