Book / story about a unicorn trying to become human?

April 14, 2004 6:39 AM

This has been driving me batty. I read a book (short story?) a long time ago and I've been trying to find it. Its about a unicorn trying to become human and it cuts off its hind legs. Any bells ringing?
posted by Julnyes to media & arts (11 comments total)

The only thing that comes to mind is Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, though the unicorn wasn't trying to become human, and the cutting off its hind legs part sounds a little too gruesome to have come from the book.
posted by GeekAnimator at 6:48 AM on April 14, 2004

no that isn't it - It was a much darker story than the last unicorn.
posted by Julnyes at 7:25 AM on April 14, 2004

Unicorn, or centaur? The first, I've got no idea. But bells are ringing for the second.
posted by ewagoner at 11:17 AM on April 14, 2004

This doesn't say anything about legs being cut off, but it does have the story of a Centaur wanting to be human. It might not be dark enough though...it was definitely in book/novel/story form, and not a graphic novel or comic?
posted by fionab at 11:29 AM on April 14, 2004

yes centaur! I completely forgot that! Do you know the name?
posted by Julnyes at 11:41 AM on April 14, 2004

I was trying to figure how a unicorn could gain humanity by losing its back legs ....

I almost posted a question to AskMe about what movie a certain conversation about was & venereal disease occurred in, until I remembered that was a conversation I had had in real life.
posted by blueshammer at 11:52 AM on April 14, 2004

Julnyes, the bells are ringing, but my brain's not naming names. And all my googling takes me down a road of furry stories and erotic fanfic that I'd rather not tread, so I'll have to leave it at that for now.
posted by ewagoner at 12:11 PM on April 14, 2004

well you put me back on the correct road to search for it - no wonder I haven't been able to find it before! You don't realize how much I appreciate this ewangoner.
posted by Julnyes at 12:36 PM on April 14, 2004

The "book results" over at the new A9 search engine are much more pleasant to wade through. Happy hunting! One result that likely isn't your answer but looks interesting nonetheless is the book of short stories, Half-Human.
posted by ewagoner at 12:51 PM on April 14, 2004

A ha I think its The Centaur in the Garden by Moacyr Scliar - there is also a sphinx encounter in this book, so I think its the right one.

Thank you AskMetafilter.
posted by Julnyes at 1:09 PM on April 14, 2004

I wish I remembered the sphinx and centaur bits sooner - It pops up easily on google with those terms.
posted by Julnyes at 1:39 PM on April 14, 2004