"The Cutie" is a

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

short story by

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

writer

Greg Egan Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Lo ...

, first published in '' Interzone #29'' in May/June 1989. It was his first to be published in ''Interzone''. The short story was included in the collection ''

Axiomatic An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or fi ...

'' in 1995. It also appeared in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Interzone: The 4th Anthology'' edited by

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

and Simon Ounsley in 1989.

Plot

A lonely man with a desperate wish to be a father undergoes a medical procedure to impregnate himself with a "Cutie", a child with reduced mental capacities (including the inability to speak), reduced legal status (regarded to be more like a pet) and a lifespan of only four years. When she unexpectedly succeeds to speak simple words, the man begins to form a stronger attachment to her and even unsuccessfully tries to postpone the early death integrated into her

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

. After her death, the mourning father is left wondering, whether her death would have meant this much to him if she never had attempted to speak at all.

Translation

The short story was translated into French by

Sylvie Denis Sylvie Denis (born 10 November 1963 in Talence) is a French science fiction writer. She is also a translator and co-edited the magazine "Cyberdreams." A novelist, she won the Solaris Prize in 1988 for ''L'Anniversaire de Caroline'', the Prix Rosn ...

and Francis Valéry (1997 and 2006), Hungarian by József Békési (1999), Romanian by Mihai-Dan Pavelescu (1999), Japanese by Makoto Yamagishi (1999), Italian by Riccardo Valla (2003) and Korean by Kim Sang-hoon (2024). The French translation appeared under the two different titles "Le Tout P’tit" and "Le P’tit-mignon".

Background

Karen Burnham writes in ''Greg Egan (Modern Masters of Science Fiction)'', that the short story "really marked a turning point, establishing Egan’s presence as a pure SF writer." Egan, in an interview with ''Eidolon'' in 1993, told that "

did help steer me away from horror; when he bought ‘The Cutie’—my first SF story for '' Interzone''—he made it clear that he thought I was heading in the right direction." Egan also stated in this interview, that the inspiration for the short story "was triggered by reading that childless adults in the US were buying themselves Cabbage Patch dolls - and that one couple had even had an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

performed on theirs." He added to be "still not sure if that was apocryphal or not."

Reception

Reviews

Jon Evans, writing in the '' Reactor Magazine'', claims that the short story "is one of the the most sentimental and emotional horror stories every written."Why Isn't Greg Egan A Superstar?
by

Jon Evans Jon Evans (born April 11, 1973) is a Canadian novelist, journalist, adventure traveler, and software engineer. Early life Born to an expatriate Rhodesian father and Canadian mother, Evans grew up in Waterloo, Ontario, and graduated from the Uni ...

, at reactormag.com; published December 18, 2008; retrieved May 30, 2024 Karen Burnham writes in ''Greg Egan (Modern Masters of Science Fiction)'', that "as with several of Egan’s other early stories, the author’s hand is obviously tipping the scales, with a narrative that at times seems manipulated instead of flowing naturally." As examples, she notes that it is "difficult ...to believe that there would be a market for semi-human babies who die young, or that a protagonist obsessed with child-nurturing would not simply adopt." She adds that "while this is a story that lightly hits some horror buttons, it is firmly on the side of near-future, bioethics-oriented SF."

Awards

The short story reached the 5th place in the '' Interzone'' Reader's Poll in 1990 and was nominated for the Seiun Award in 2000.

Literature

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:The Cutie Australian science fiction short stories 1989 short stories Short stories by Greg Egan