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They're Made Out of Meat and 5 other All-Talk Tales
All-dialogue short stories.
Contains:
— They’re Made out of Meat
— A View from the Bridge
— Next
— The Toxic Donut
— Corona FAQ
— Life After Death
Contains:
— They’re Made out of Meat
— A View from the Bridge
— Next
— The Toxic Donut
— Corona FAQ
— Life After Death
50 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2019
37 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Terry Bisson
214 books177 followersTerry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire" (1990), which which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as They're Made Out of Meat (1991), which has been adapted for video often.
Adapted from Wikipedia.
Adapted from Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 6, 2025
Well, that was an absolutely super set of super short short stories.
It’s exactly what speculative short stories should be (especially such short short stories). Little nuggets that make you go “Huh”, but in a good way. And these are presented entirely as dialog.
They are:
* “They’re Made out of Meat” - My favourite of the bunch. And I say that as a piece of sentient meat.
* “View from the Bridge” - The bridge of the good ship Gigantic. Not Titanic.
* “Next” - When the desire to get married is beset by melanin-related bureaucracy.
* “The Toxic Donut” - It’s a donut. It’s toxic.
* “Corona FAQ” - Q: Will I still have normal human emotions?
* “Life After Death” - It’s life after death, but not as we know it.
Read it. Read it now. It’s good.
It’s exactly what speculative short stories should be (especially such short short stories). Little nuggets that make you go “Huh”, but in a good way. And these are presented entirely as dialog.
They are:
* “They’re Made out of Meat” - My favourite of the bunch. And I say that as a piece of sentient meat.
* “View from the Bridge” - The bridge of the good ship Gigantic. Not Titanic.
* “Next” - When the desire to get married is beset by melanin-related bureaucracy.
* “The Toxic Donut” - It’s a donut. It’s toxic.
* “Corona FAQ” - Q: Will I still have normal human emotions?
* “Life After Death” - It’s life after death, but not as we know it.
Read it. Read it now. It’s good.
July 24, 2025
These stories are not as clever as they think they are
I couldn't help imagining, as I read each one of these stories, Terry Bisson chuckling to himself, "Oh, what a clever boy am I!" And as I came to the end of each one, I found myself thinking, "Really? That all you got?"
So, yeah, I was underwhelmed. But it was short. There are less amusing ways to spend an hour.
Blog review.
I couldn't help imagining, as I read each one of these stories, Terry Bisson chuckling to himself, "Oh, what a clever boy am I!" And as I came to the end of each one, I found myself thinking, "Really? That all you got?"
So, yeah, I was underwhelmed. But it was short. There are less amusing ways to spend an hour.
Blog review.
July 16, 2025
Weird but invoking. Couldn't put it down. Purchased a collections of the authors short stories after
That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."
This is the shortest of short stories. Barely five pages. But laugh out loud, hilarious. I probably never would have heard of this one without this challenge and now have read all the stories in this collection.
How would aliens appraise us? How would their view of us shape their actions towards a first encounter? Could they suspend their belief system to actually see us as beings?
Beautifully crafted with no real depth. Just quick and fun.
"You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."
*A Veiw from the Bridge*
When thrill seekers find real danger a rush, how do you make a business model out of that?
With a survival rate of 70%, now it is easy to put your life and your families' lives in the hands of recreated tragedies. From plane crashes to skyscrapers on fire. Here, you can find out if you have what it takes.
*Next*
What if it was difficult to marry someone of the same race as you? This short tale explores r*cism in almost reverse. Instead of being looked down on for interracial marriage, you are looked down on for marriage to your own kind. Forced to jump through hoops and prove yourself just to "earn" what others are freely given.
In a world where the heat index has reach all time high, people of color are still jumping through hoop. the only difference is that now their skin color is praised to save the human race. Their melanin is valued, so the "white people" don't burn up, and their children can have a future with darker skin tones.
"VOICE: Suit yourself. Let's cut the BS. You're nice kids, but under the Melanin Distribution Provisions of the Global Warming Emergency Act, the law is clear. If you want to raise your own kids, you'll have to marry legally.
YUSEF: Which means marry some white person.
VOICE: "A suitable person under the law." Why make it a racial issue? We're all just people here. Besides, is there something so terrible about marrying a white person?"
This tale was told entirely in dialog. It was gripping, heart-wrenching, and horrifying. A tale of causation to future generations with the globe warming crisis already rising.
A story of r*cism disguised as equality
*The Toxic Donut *
The world has created an awful lottery. One that surly means death. The difference is that people can purchase tickets for others. This is not a voluntary thing. Your Name can be drawn without you even knowing it was entered.
The winner of the lottery must eat a special donut. A donut made of that year's toxins. Toxins they have kept out of the environment but now have to be desposed of. By one unlucky winner.
*Corona FAQ*
Short and weird. New hearts that use synthetic blood. Cools the body but prevents "some" emotions related to blood pressure.
Written as a Q&A it's only a few pages long.
*Life After Death*
I dont even know what to say. Worth the read though.
That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."
This is the shortest of short stories. Barely five pages. But laugh out loud, hilarious. I probably never would have heard of this one without this challenge and now have read all the stories in this collection.
How would aliens appraise us? How would their view of us shape their actions towards a first encounter? Could they suspend their belief system to actually see us as beings?
Beautifully crafted with no real depth. Just quick and fun.
"You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."
*A Veiw from the Bridge*
When thrill seekers find real danger a rush, how do you make a business model out of that?
With a survival rate of 70%, now it is easy to put your life and your families' lives in the hands of recreated tragedies. From plane crashes to skyscrapers on fire. Here, you can find out if you have what it takes.
*Next*
What if it was difficult to marry someone of the same race as you? This short tale explores r*cism in almost reverse. Instead of being looked down on for interracial marriage, you are looked down on for marriage to your own kind. Forced to jump through hoops and prove yourself just to "earn" what others are freely given.
In a world where the heat index has reach all time high, people of color are still jumping through hoop. the only difference is that now their skin color is praised to save the human race. Their melanin is valued, so the "white people" don't burn up, and their children can have a future with darker skin tones.
"VOICE: Suit yourself. Let's cut the BS. You're nice kids, but under the Melanin Distribution Provisions of the Global Warming Emergency Act, the law is clear. If you want to raise your own kids, you'll have to marry legally.
YUSEF: Which means marry some white person.
VOICE: "A suitable person under the law." Why make it a racial issue? We're all just people here. Besides, is there something so terrible about marrying a white person?"
This tale was told entirely in dialog. It was gripping, heart-wrenching, and horrifying. A tale of causation to future generations with the globe warming crisis already rising.
A story of r*cism disguised as equality
*The Toxic Donut *
The world has created an awful lottery. One that surly means death. The difference is that people can purchase tickets for others. This is not a voluntary thing. Your Name can be drawn without you even knowing it was entered.
The winner of the lottery must eat a special donut. A donut made of that year's toxins. Toxins they have kept out of the environment but now have to be desposed of. By one unlucky winner.
*Corona FAQ*
Short and weird. New hearts that use synthetic blood. Cools the body but prevents "some" emotions related to blood pressure.
Written as a Q&A it's only a few pages long.
*Life After Death*
I dont even know what to say. Worth the read though.
February 24, 2020
Black Mirror-Esque
If you enjoy Black Mirror, you’ll love this.
If you didn’t, you’ll still love this. I compare it to Black Mirror just because that’s what I’ve heard from people who I’ve told about it, but in my experience they’re different.
The main way they’re different is that these stories are entirely ‘white room’— meaning that there’s only dialogue and no description.
This is done in such a masterful and fun way that it makes each story interactive because you’re trying to solve the mystery of the context of what each story is about.
Read it and enjoy it. It’s *way* worth it.
If you enjoy Black Mirror, you’ll love this.
If you didn’t, you’ll still love this. I compare it to Black Mirror just because that’s what I’ve heard from people who I’ve told about it, but in my experience they’re different.
The main way they’re different is that these stories are entirely ‘white room’— meaning that there’s only dialogue and no description.
This is done in such a masterful and fun way that it makes each story interactive because you’re trying to solve the mystery of the context of what each story is about.
Read it and enjoy it. It’s *way* worth it.
Read
September 15, 2025I’m not rating because it was a DNF pretty quickly. It wasn’t bad but I don’t read much sci-fi, and it was a little too out there for me.
November 29, 2020
Wow, just wow!
Extraordinary little collection. Never have I ever read an collection of short stories in which all of them were exceptional. Each and every individual story is a five star story. Author has done a terrific job indeed. Every single one of those stories will make you whistle with surprise, a whistle that would almost sound like 'Damnnnn'.
Extraordinary little collection. Never have I ever read an collection of short stories in which all of them were exceptional. Each and every individual story is a five star story. Author has done a terrific job indeed. Every single one of those stories will make you whistle with surprise, a whistle that would almost sound like 'Damnnnn'.
September 29, 2021
This anthology from the dystopian world felt like the half drawn horse meme. The first 3 stories were crazy brilliance. The unapologetic chaos, the powerful manipulating the laws and the narrative were amazing. The last 3 felt dragged, or maybe I couldn't fully feel the dystopia/chaos.
July 23, 2023
Amazing
Such a thought provoking book and full of witty dialogue and fun short stories. I've always had a soft spot for Terry Bisson and his scifi asymmetrical viewpoint on the future.
Such a thought provoking book and full of witty dialogue and fun short stories. I've always had a soft spot for Terry Bisson and his scifi asymmetrical viewpoint on the future.
January 27, 2024
Sticks with you long after reading
Terry Bisson wrote the perfect metaphysical-laced science fiction story collection. I wish that I could go back in time and read it again for the first time.
Terry Bisson wrote the perfect metaphysical-laced science fiction story collection. I wish that I could go back in time and read it again for the first time.
June 14, 2023
This short book of shorts is worth a read. You will laugh at the absurdity and the creativity of how much story is packed into short little conversations.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews