Wondrous, horrifying, achingly human: The best short stories by "one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy who ever lived" (Stephen King). One of science fiction's most beloved trailblazers, Hugo and Nebula-Award winning author Theodore Sturgeon wrote novels and short fiction that inspired and amazed readers and critics alike.   In Selected Stories, thirteen of Sturgeon's very best tales have been gathered into one collection: Here are stories of love and darkness, transcendence and obsession, alien contact and human interaction. In the devastating wake of a nuclear holocaust, an actress performs her swan song before a small audience of survivors. A machine is possessed and intent upon destruction. Humankind's place in the vast cosmos is explored, as is the strange humanity of evil. In the author's acclaimed story "The Man Who Lost the Sea," a life is reconstructed in bizarre shattered fragments. And in "Slow Sculpture," Sturgeon's award-winning classic, a breast cancer patient surrenders to a healer's most unorthodox methods. Lyrical, often witty, frequently provocative, and always surprising, Selected Stories covers a wide range of human and inhuman emotion and experience, deftly traversing the borders between science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.   This ebook features an illustrated biography of Theodore Sturgeon including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the University of Kansas's Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the author's estate, among other sources.