The Unreal and the Real

A collection of literary, science fiction, and fantasy short stories by the legendary and iconic Ursula K. Le Guin—selected with an introduction by the author and combined in one volume for the first time.

The Unreal and the Real is a collection of some of Ursula K. Le Guin’s best short stories. Spanning realistic fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, and science fiction, the collection showcases her extraordinary range and her enduring explorations of human nature, society, gender, freedom, and alternative worlds.

Le Guin received numerous prizes and accolades, including the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a Newbery Honor, and the Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud Awards. Her stories have appeared in collections throughout her career, but this is the first single volume to combine such a broad range of her work.

Stories include:
- “Brothers and Sisters”
- “A Week in the Country”
- “Unlocking the Air”
- “Imaginary Countries”
- “The Diary of the Rose”
- “Direction of the Road”
- “The White Donkey”
- “Gwilan’s Harp”
- “May’s Lion”
- “Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight”
- “Horse Camp”
- “The Water Is Wide”
- “The Lost Children”
- “Texts”
- “Sleepwalkers”
- “Hand, Cup, Shell”
- “Ether, Or”
- “Half Past Four”
- “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
- “Semley’s Necklace”
- “Nine Lives”
- “Mazes”
- “The First Contact with the Gorgonids”
- “The Shobies’ Story”
- “Betrayals”
- “The Matter of Seggri”
- “Solitude”
- “The Wild Girls”
- “The Flyers of Gy”
- “The Silence of the Asonu”
- “The Ascent of the North Face”
- “The Author of the Acacia Seeds”
- “The Wife’s Story”
- “The Rule of Names”
- “Small Change”
- “The Poacher”
- “Sur”
- “She Unnames Them”
- “The Jar of Water”