The Urbane Spaceman

Florina Bird first saw the orange glow of the spacecraft while she was having sex in the front seat of her boyfriend Philip’s car. It was almost as if the spaceship was watching them! Her friend Cynthia didn’t believe that she’d seen a spaceship, and Florina began to wonder if she was hallucinating. A few days later, when an alien in a spacesuit materialized through the front door of her house, Florina realized that she’d been right! Now she had to wonder -- why was this alien interested in her?

This is a cute, very short story (29 pages) with a cartoonish sort of charm. The author’s style is flip and funny and superficial, kind of like a Valley Girl. The plot consists of several vignettes on one theme, all of them starring the character of Florina. I liked Florina. Like many of us, she is a little bored by life –at least, she’s bored by her current boyfriend and work. Luckily, a distraction comes along in the person of a space suited alien. The sex scenes are frank and unembarrassed but, again, they feel cartoonish. I got a kick out of the story, and quite enjoyed it.

Reviewed by: Jean