For Tuesday: Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing 2015


Read these stories: Samatar, “How to Get Back to the Forest” (pp.1-13); Rambo, “Tortioseshell Cats are Not Refundable” (pp.24-33)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: How does the title “How to Get Back to the Forest” relate to the story itself? Who is trying to “get back”? What is the “forest”? Is it a literal forest (where the camps are)? Or a metaphor?

Q2: Samatar writes “Forgetting isn’t so wrong. It’s a Life Skill” (6). What does she mean by this? How does forgetting relate to the story, and perhaps the purpose of the camps themselves?

Q3: In the story, “Tortoiseshell Cats are Not Refundable,” what do the scientists look for to rebuild a subject’s personality? While biology all comes from DNA, what makes the ‘inner workings’ come to life? Do you feel these details are accurate—or are they missing something?

Q4: What does the main character mean when he says, “No. Decide whether or not to begin” (33)? Since Mindy has already been cloned by this point, what decision is he allowing her to make?

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